Students at Gordonstoun School have retraced the steps of King Charles on a 28-mile expedition through the Cairngorms, more than half a century after he completed the same trek for his silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The pupils discovered the original logbook of the 1965 expedition in the school archives and decided to follow the same route in June.
The seven students – five girls and two boys – spent four days walking from Balachroich to Rothiemurchus Lodge, passing through Glenfeshie Forest and climbing alongside Ben Macdui in Glen Dee. They camped for three nights in the wilderness, navigating independently and cooking their own food.
India Lewis, 16, said: “To be, quite literally, retracing the footsteps of the King was so cool, and something we can always say we have done. In the back of everyone’s mind we remembered our motto, Plus Est En Vous, and we remembered that you have more in you.” Fellow participant William Griffin, also 16, described the landscape’s diversity, from dense woodland and a dried-up river to wide valleys and open plains.
King Charles was 16 when he undertook the original expedition in October 1965 with four other pupils. The log records rain, stormy winds, overcast skies and low mist, yet notes that the group remained in “good spirits”. Michael Fabianski, who was part of that original party, recalled camping on the banks of the River Feshie and wading across the River Dee.
Gordonstoun principal Peter Green said the school was “deeply encouraged” that the King’s resilience continued to inspire young people. He added that the expedition exemplified the founder Kurt Hahn’s philosophy of challenging students to grow. Gordonstoun is recognised as the birthplace of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, which evolved from Hahn’s Moray Badge scheme of 1936 into a national programme in 1956.
