King Charles Becomes Patron of His Former Scottish School Depicted in ‘The Crown’ as ‘Absolute Hell’

To mark the first anniversary of his coronation, King Charles has accepted a patronage at Gordonstoun, the Scottish institution where he attended secondary school — and which he reportedly referred to as an “absolute hell.”

The King, 75, who attended Gordonstoun from 1962 to 1967, has become patron of the Gordonstoun Association, marking his first official link with the school, the BBC reports. The role was previously held by the monarch’s late father, Prince Philip, who was also an alumnus of the institution.

In addition to the late Duke of Edinburgh, Charles joins another relative, Princess Anne, as an official supporter of the institution, the BBC reports. Anne holds the role of warden at the boarding school.

Gordonstoun’s website states that the school is “immensely proud to be the first senior school to educate a King, and prouder still to note how the years King Charles spent here nurtured his love of, and commitment to, service, to the outdoors and to the arts.”

But the King’s time at the school is widely thought to have been unhappy, at least at the start — a period that was portrayed in the second season of The Crown.

In the Netflix series, King Charles is sent to Gordonstoun at the insistence of his father, while both his mother, Queen Elizabeth, and his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, preferred he go to Eton College.

While Gordonstoun is located in Moray, Scotland, Eton is just a short distance away from Windsor Castle. It is also where the King’s own sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, ultimately attended.

Prince Philip was determined that his son follow in his footsteps, attend his alma mater and experience the same life-altering experience that he had at the institution — and he ultimately got his way.

In The Crown, King Charles arrives at the school, an all-boys institution at the time, and immediately becomes miserable. He was bullied, found the physical fitness aspect of his education trying and struggled with certain aspects of life at Gordonstoun (such as windows that won’t shut in the rain), particularly when compared to his life at home.

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The royal is even said to have nicknamed the school “Colditz in kilts” and reportedly called it an “absolute hell” — a quote The Crown included in its portrayal of his days at the secondary school.

Prince Philip also had a challenging time during his early days at Gordonstoun, which was a new school when he attended, but he eventually learned to love it. As historian Robert Lacey phrased it: “For Philip, it is a wonderful, pioneering moment and in many ways was the making of him.”

“Philip has been depicted as cruel for sending him to the school, but Philip did it [for] the best of motives,” Lacey previously told PEOPLE. “It was a fantastic, developing stage in his life, after his broken background. He thought it would be the making of Charles, but the school had changed. When Philip was there, he found the hardships, the challenges of the climate and countryside uplifting.”

“By the time Charles was there,” he added, “the school had become a much more conventional private school. It’s a poignant, powerful story.”

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King Charles has also spoken fondly of his time Gordonstoun, even telling Observer Magazine that the idea that he detested the school has been “exaggerated” in 1974 — nearly a decade after he left the institution.

Similarly, in a 1975 speech to the House of Lords, he said, “I am always astonished by the amount of rot talked about Gordonstoun and the careless use of ancient clichés used to describe it.”

“It was only tough in the sense that it demanded more of you as an individual than most other schools did — mentally or physically,” he continued at the time. “I am lucky in that I believe it taught me a great deal about myself and my own abilities and disabilities. It taught me to accept challenges and take the initiative. Why else do you think I am brave enough to stand up before your Lordships now?”