When college freshmen headed off for the fall semesters in August and September, I kept seeing stuff about how the incoming class of 2030 was completely unprepared to stay on campus for the first few weekends. I was pleasantly surprised, because it was that way when I went to college too – freshmen were banned from going home the first two weekends of their first semester. The idea behind it is simple enough – homesick or not, you’ve got to tough it out and give college life a decent shot, and staying on campus for the first weekends is an important part of that. As it turns out, Eton prep school has the same rule. Prince George’s parents dropped him off at Eton on September 8th, and I thought George would probably be allowed to go home that weekend or the next. It’s possible, although this past weekend was probably George’s first time back at Forest Lodge for more than one night.
Just one month after starting at Eton College, Prince George may have headed home for the weekend.
Eton students had their first “short leave” of the term from Oct. 2 to Oct. 4, according to a schedule on the school’s website. The scheduled weekend break, also known as an exeat, allows boarding students to leave the school and visit home or stay with family for a few days, typically from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening.
It’s likely that Prince George, 13, spent time with his parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, during the break. And George wouldn’t have had to travel far — Eton is located just miles away from Forest Lodge in Windsor, where the Prince and Princess of Wales’ family moved last year.
While the past weekend marked the first short leave of the school year, it may not have been the first time that Prince George headed home since beginning at the prestigious boarding school. On Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, Eton had a “B Weekend,” which is an optional leave for students. During B Weekends, Etonians can leave the school after their commitments on Saturday and must return by Sunday evening.
Yeah, I thought it sounded weird to have first-year Eton students stay on campus for a full month. I would imagine George was allowed to go home the weekend of the 18th-19th, but this was the first time he had several nights back with his parents. I said it last month – George actually surprised me. He seemed happy and not nervous at all while being dropped off at Eton. Still, he’s just a kid. A 13-year-old at Eton is different than an 18-year-old in a college dorm, and I’m sure every kid gets a bit homesick. I hope George is doing well.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
-
- 08/09/2026, Windsor, UK. Prince George begins his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire.,Image: 1132442115, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Matt Porteous / Kensington Palace/Avalon
-
- 08/09/2026, Windsor, UK. Prince George begins his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire.,Image: 1132442113, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Matt Porteous / Kensington Palace/Avalon
-
- 08/09/2026, Windsor, UK. Prince George begins his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire.,Image: 1132442114, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Matt Porteous / Kensington Palace/Avalon
-
- Prince George, accompanied by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, starts his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire Featuring: Prince George, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom When: 07 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- Prince George, accompanied by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, starts his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire Featuring: Prince George, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom When: 07 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- Prince George, accompanied by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, starts his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire Featuring: Prince George, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom When: 07 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- Prince George, accompanied by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, starts his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire Featuring: Prince George, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom When: 07 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- Prince George, accompanied by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, starts his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire Featuring: Prince George, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom When: 07 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- Prince George, accompanied by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, starts his first day at Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire Featuring: Prince George, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Windsor, Berkshire, United Kingdom When: 07 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
The exeat. Anyone who’s put their kids through the UK private/independent education system knows they’re at home more than they’re at school. Nice for him, though, to get home and recharge. He looks beyond his years in that photo.
He seems to favor K more and more as he grows.
He seems like a good kid. I’m sure it’s been a major adjustment dorming at just 13!
We don’t know that he’s a good kid. We do know that he demanded staff go to the mainland to get him mcdonalds when he was on the ultra luxurious super yacht with his parents.
Maybe it’s just my imagination, but George looks like somebody who knows that he is being photographed and is not comfortable with this. Even in his “official” portrait he looks uncomfortable and tense. Not surprising—he is in the age when kids (teens) become increasingly self-conscious. Then again, he had always been uncomfortable with public appearances.
Do we truly need to know this much about a thirteen year old boy, I understand his parents want their family to be the lead story 24/7 but they should leave the children out of the tabloids.
I don’t have much hope for George, in so much as he’s being groomed/brought up “in the machine” of the Firm, with all the entitlement and excesses that goes with it (let alone having two work-shy parents without any sense of duty). I’m hoping he doesn’t end up with the same “frat boy” mentality that his father exhibited in his teens.
While I know he’s still young, I just have a feeling, as he truly doesn’t have any really good role models around him to instill a sense of “reality”, as Diana did with W&H. I truly don’t think Will would’ve turned out quite this way at all if Di was still around. His parents? No work ethic; HUGE sense of entitlements. Ma Mids? No shame/ethics/social climbing schemer. Pa Mids? Mostly absent. His Uncle James? Aunt Pips? Both never had much/any success other than marrying rich.
Fingers crossed for all 3 Wales kids.
It’s good that Eton does this. For some of these children it might the first time that they’re away from home for such a long time. However there will be some children who will not go home so soon after joining because they live overseas.
Honestly I would be surprised if any of the kids spend much time at home now, it would interfere in the mess that is W&K’s separate lives
Right? Knowing what we do about W&K’s relationship and living arrangements, George was probably thrilled to GTFO of there.
OMG when I went away to school I was 13 and turned 14 the first month. We did not go home until fall long weekend which was mid-late October. That was normal. It’s actually easier to just lean in. Get some mileage under your feet. I remember distinctly having to go home for Thanksgiving and thinking it really wasn’t worth the travel and disruption and back and forth so close to Christmas when it fell like 3 weeks later. Plus there are people from all over and it’s not remotely realistic to go home to Hong Kong or San Francisco or Raleigh or Denver. But, good luck to George.
Was that in the States or the UK? I went at 15 (US) and didn’t go home until around that time in October either. If I even did go home any time before Thanksgiving. I honestly don’t remember. And yes, there were kids from overseas, from the South and even from out West who didn’t go until Christmas. One girl whose parents were living in Saudi Arabia only ever went home in the summers. Over the other holidays she would go to another relative or with a friend.
If I am remembering correctly, they also have a few few hours on Sundays to visit with family (or do nothing I suppose) after services. I wonder how often they will visit him.
Town and country (us) has a very interesting article in the current issue about Eton where they talk to a lot of former pupils and parents of pupils, generations that have attended. They also talk about George going this summer with the other new kids and how charming he was, etc. it’s a great read and also available online
A pr puff piece then. Who calls a 13 yr old charming and as if they’d know.
I don’t know… I can easily imagine being there is a big fat relief for him to be away from that toxic family…
How do colleges enforce freshmen not leaving campus on weekends during the first few weeks of the first semester? They’re legally adults and can do whatever the heck they want. My campus had zero sign in/sign out system. You left campus if you felt like it and you came back when you felt like it. I guess some campuses might have a gate system but even then, is a gate agent really going to refuse to let a freshman leave if they want?
I’m really mixed on boarding schools. 13 is so ridiculously young. But you can’t argue it prepares an 18 year old for a college dorm and they’ll be more well adjusted than a young adult who has never left home for any significant amount of time.
IDK how colleges enforce it, but I was super homesick and went home or to visit friends *a lot* — maybe it would have been better if I’d been forced to stay and socialize. Eventually, I found “my people,” but my freshman year was rough.
And he’s only 13; huge difference.
I think 13 is very young too. I was 15 when I went and it was an adjustment, even though I had an older brother there and had been away to camp for as long as two months in the summers for several years leading up to it. Granted, that was before cell phones.
I’ve never seen a picture of George looking so happy as he walks between his parents on the Eton campus, and looking more confident than he has ever appeared to be.
I know some celebitches enjoyed boarding school but I think it’s barbaric to oust a young kid from his home. I just don’t understand the parental mindset. I mean, why have kids if you don’t want them to be around?
(Ducking and covering)
Before “Swan Song”, Charles Spencer wrote a book called “A Very Private School” where he talks about horrendous abuses that were heaped upon aristocratic boys when they were away from their parents. It is a heartbreaking story.
LOL, @QuiteContrary. No need to duck! It’s not for everyone to be sure but really it’s not like joining the Marine Corps or the priesthood. There are any number of reasons why people send kids to board. Increasingly, now, it’s because two parents have demanding careers which may require travel and don’t want their teenagers at home unsupervised. But at the same time, how do you supervise a teenager? Can you hire a babysitter for a 15-year-old? Not really. Trust is an issue, but so is just having too much downtime. A lot of parents are very fond of their children and want them to have the best opportunities they can provide, and make sacrifices, emotional and financial, to secure them. You can pack more into a day when you are boarding. Sports for a couple of hours. Homework for a couple of hours. Sculpting / painting / drama / music / swimming when you don’t have to drive to a pool, which is what I did, everything is right *there* which means that you’re getting the most out of the days, packing it in, and your parents aren’t reduced to the role of chauffeur. They can also have a life. Especially if you are not an only child, and *everyone* has a packed schedule. Also for people from fairly fortunate backgrounds — and this I cannot emphasise enough — it is the *only* place you will ever be totally immersed in a class-free world. Pure equality. Because no matter how much money your parents have, or their relative status, social standing, etc., when you’re at school, everyone is in the same boat. That makes it a very attractive place for parents who are otherwise concerned about their kids growing up with privileges and coming out a bit warped and spoiled. No one spoils you. It’s very bracing that way. It kind of sets you up for life. You can flush out your real potential and frankly at that age your parents are just not best placed to guide you especially if — as was my case — they are dealing with a lot of their own baggage. Like, it’s a baggage-free zone.
If all of your friends went to boarding school you might feel differently.
I have a friend who had to send her child to a “special” boarding school because he had issues that the district couldn’t meet; he needed to be in a specific situation with smaller classes and much more structure in order to do well.
She agonized over it and it broke her heart, but she finally did what she thought was best for her child to succeed. So I’m not quick to automatically judge people for this…obviously she didn’t want to share her child’s medical/learning issues with too many people, and she was faced with a lot of awful comments about “shipping him off to get rid of him” when that was the farthest thing from the truth.
Like YankeeDoodle said, there are valid reasons for making the choice. Parents and kids have to make the decision together and I’m quite sure that these days, most of them do. Some parents live and work in cities without great schooling options. That was the case with me. The public school wasn’t meeting the academic needs that my brother and me had. There was one private school in town, but my sister had not had a good experience there and my parents were not impressed with it. There were a couple of Catholic schools, but we were not Catholic and at that time, pretty much every student and teacher at those schools was. So off we went.
I’ve always had a soft spot for George. Glad he’s looking happy. He’s still living in a bubble at age 13. Not like he walks into a grocery store with mom & sees his family members on the cover of tabloids. I think he greatly admires his parents. But what about when he gets out in the real world (will he ever?), or schoolmates with social media start to share things with him? I think we all, as teens, have had rebellious thoughts or started to disagree with our parents, at least over a limited time period. Does he even remember Prince Harry? Will he ever read his book? What will he be like at 18? I have high hopes he’ll be smarter, wiser & kinder than his father is.
@Sharon, I’ve always had a soft spot for George, too (probably because we know what awaits him).
It will be interesting to see how he turns out…he is going to have immediate access to so, so much more (true) information about his family than any other heir in history.
He looks so happy to be getting away from his parents!
Anyone elsse notice that George never looked happier than when he was heading off to school?