Queen Elizabeth's 'Dragon Nanny' Affected Her Relationship With Prince Charles This Way

Queen Elizabeth II's fear of Prince Charles' nanny reportedly affected their mother and son relationship.

Penny Junor claimed in the documentary, "Princes Of The Palace," that there are a number of elements that affected Her Majesty and the Prince of Wales' bond. Among these is the Queen's intense fear of one of Prince Charles' nannies.

"The Queen had a nanny who frankly terrified her, she was called Helen Lightbody, and she was a dragon!" Junor explained (as quoted by Express). "The Queen really didn’t enjoy going into the nursery, so that was another factor that kept the Queen away from Charles."

In addition, Queen Elizabeth II had measles just days after delivering Prince Charles. Thus, Prince William and Prince Harry's father had to be taken away from her at only 10 days old.

"In that crucial bonding period between mother and child, they didn’t have that," Junor added.

In Netflix's "The Royal House of Windsor" documentary, Junor gave another reason why the Queen and the future king didn't bond as regular parents and children do.

"The Queen, to be fair to her, was being Queen," Junor explained. "For most of Charles' childhood and the rest of his life, she was on a pedestal and he did not have a warm and cosy relationship with his mother."

Due to this, Prince Charles grow up at the care of his nannies and staff. He also developed a close relationship with the Queen Mother. In fact, he was closer to his grandmother than his parents.

"And I had dreaded, dreaded this moment. Above all, she saw the funny side in everything and we laughed until we cried. And oh, how I shall miss those laughs," Prince Charles said following Queen Mother's death.

Prince Charles was not close to his father, Prince Philip, who was considered to be an alpha male. There was even a time when the Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Mother had a rift because the latter disagreed with Prince Philip's plan to send Prince Charles to Gordonstoun, his old school in Scotland. The 97-year-old reportedly wanted Prince Charles to attend to that school to toughen him up.

In related news, Prince Philip had a shocking and hilarious reaction after seeing newborn Prince Charles. According to French historian Fabrice D'Almeida, the Duke of Edinburgh compared his son to a "plum pudding."