As her first-born child, it’s natural that Princess Mary will always feel protective of her son, Prince Christian.
And as the 15-year-old royal prepares to enter adulthood, there’s speculation Mary is harbouring concerns for her son after it was decided he would commence schooling at Herlufsholm boarding school – an institution steeped in scandal.
Despite being known as an elite school for wealthy families in Denmark for several hundred years, the Herlufsholm School has also gained notoriety for its controversial methods in years gone past – with physical punishment, horrific rituals and bullying believed to have happened to its students.
Says a Danish source, ”The old Danish boarding schools are known to be quite rough, and there have been rumours of students being tough on each other. It also has a reputation for being a very strict school – the young people must behave, and that can cause trouble, and also rebellion, amongst some of them.”
Indeed, up until 1993 – when a new headmaster took over – it was supposedly normal practice for the older students to punish the younger pupils in a number of ways, from physical abuse and enforcing chores be carried out, to stripping the sheets from their beds in a fraternity-like initiation.
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There’s speculation Mary is harbouring concerns for Prince Christian (left).
(Image: Getty)”A former headmaster has written about these methods of bullying in a book, and he suspects that some of this is still being practiced – without the school knowing,” the source says of Herlufsholm, which is also said to have been the site of a guard being stabbed in 1994 and several reports of rape.
According to a Danish publication, former student Kasper Hansen has said that he has never seen so many unhappy young students as he did during his time at Herlufshom.
The decision to send young Prince Christian to the boarding school has surprised royal insiders, who say that up until now, Christian has happily been a student at a regular school in the country.
Christian could be following in his cousin’s footsteps.
(Image: Instgram)But the decision to change schooling could have something to do with his older cousin Prince Nikolai – the son of Prince Frederik’s brother, Joachim – graduating from there in 2018.
But despite her concerns, Princess Mary should be able to take some comfort in the knowledge that Prince Nikolai enjoyed his four years at the school.
”Nikolai says he loved it,” says the source.
”A lot of Danish celebrities have also attended the school. Some liked it, with its strict discipline, and some didn’t.”
