Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles' relationship has been an interesting issue for the many. As Her Majesty serves the monarchy at an early age, she has to leave her kids along to do her royal duties. These responsibilities reportedly resulted in a "complicated relationship" between the mother and son.
According to Express, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles' relationship has always been complicated. The bond between the two results in a "complex entanglement of expectations" due to their roles in the monarchy.
Allegedly, the future king often accused his mother of being "cold, distant, or unavailable." The Sun also noted that The Crown Season 3 showed the Duke of Wales complained to his sister, Princess Anne, about their mom being "vile and cold" after she sent him to Aberystwyth Uni to learn Welsh for a speech. The show seems to hint that their bond is "fractured" and its story may not be entirely fictional.
Unavailability wise, Prince Charles might be talking about his mom's busy schedule. Since becoming the Queen, she has been bombarded with frequent trips abroad or across the U.K. to carry out engagements.
A few months after her coronation, Queen Elizabeth, together with her husband, Prince Philip, already embarked a lengthy tour of the Commonwealth, living their kids, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, behind. From November 1953 to May 1954, they managed to visit 13 countries. Their two children were left at home with the Queen Mother and their nannies.
Historian Robert Lacy told Town & Country that Queen Elizabeth was brought up that way herself. Her parents, the Queen Mother and George VI, often left her at home under the care of a governess and home tutors.
In Jonathan Dimbleby's tell-all authorized biography of Prince Charles, the author revealed that the father-of-two's first milestone was witnessed by the nursery staff rather than his mother. However, Queen Elizabeth's absence from her kids' lives was said to be a result of her busy schedule and didn't necessarily mean that they had a problematic relationship.
In another Prince Charles biography, Sally Bedell-Smith wrote that when Queen Elizabeth became the monarch, her royal duties only meant that she would have lesser time with her children. An anonymous staff also said in a 2002 biography that marked the Queen's Golden Jubilee that "it has always been dogs and horses first" for Her Royal Highness, before her kids.
