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A royal expert has recounted the story of King Charles<\/a> once wrote to a former royal household employee after they were dismissed over a scandal.<\/p>\n The Daily Mail\u2019s Richard Eden<\/a> told the story of how Charles reached out to a royal protection officer who was sacked when the future monarch was just 14.<\/p>\n The dismissal came after a journalist reported that Charles had consumed alcohol before reaching the legal drinking age during a sailing trip in Scotland<\/a>.<\/p>\n Richard shared the anecdote on the Mail\u2019s Palace Confidential podcast, noting the story resurfaced after it emerged that cherry brandy, the drink Charles enjoyed as a teen, was used in a cocktail served during the official German state visit to the UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Richard recounted: \u201cThere\u2019s a cocktail mixed especially for these state visits and the cocktail they chose this time was based on cherry brandy. Now, for people who know their royal history, cherry brandy has quite unfortunate associations for King Charles.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, when he was a lad at Gordonstoun boarding school he went on a sailing trip with some of the older boys and they sailed off, and when they got to Stornoway they went to a hotel and I think he wanted to sort of show he was one of the lads.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd at the bar of this hotel he ordered a drink. He\u2019d never really had alcohol other than a cherry brandy, I think on a hunting trip with his grandma, the Queen Mother.<\/p>\n \u201cSo he ordered a cherry brandy, but unfortunately at that very moment a journalist walked into the bar, overheard him, and it became a bit of a scandal.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hotel was almost closed down, the royal protection officer who was with Charles lost his job because he was only 14, and so Charles later wrote him a letter of apology. He was so embarrassed that this guy had lost his job. I don\u2019t know whether the King would have drunk this cherry brandy cocktail.\u201d<\/p>\n Richard\u2019s discussion of the incident comes as Charles addressed the bond between Germany and the UK, highlighting their mutual determination to \u201cbolster Europe\u201d as Russia\u2019s illegal war against Ukraine<\/a> continues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n