Prince William took his oldest child, Prince George, to his first day of big-kid school last year. The Duchess of Cambridge was ill because she was in the first trimester of her pregnancy, and she canceled a lot of appearances in those months. Kate seemingly got some of the “blame” for sending George to his “unconventional” big-kid school, because I think most people assumed that Kate was the one making decisions about her kids’ early education. But having William take George to school had a strange effect – it made it seem like William was right there, making those choices about his kids’ education too.
William’s education was somewhat “by the book” for princes – elite London schools when he was very young, then Ludgrove (a private boarding school), then Eton (the elite boarding school of the wealthy and/or royal). Since William has such a grudge against his upbringing, I’ve always wondered if he and Kate will decide to go in the complete opposite direction for their kids, all in the idea that their kids need to grow up “normal” and “middle class.” But then there’s this:
Prince William has registered Prince George to attend his alma mater, I hear. The four-year-old is down to start Eton in 2026. My source tells me George was registered late last year, and has not been down ‘since birth’, as some say.
But, I understand Wills hasn’t ruled out other schools, including Marlborough, which Kate and her siblings attended and adored.
I tend to believe that it would be a bridge too far if William did not send his son to Eton. The royal family wouldn’t allow William to send George anywhere else, is what I mean. But you never know. By the time George gets to high-school age, maybe the Windsors would have stopped caring about that sort of thing. Probably not. But yeah, George is going to end up in Eton. Maybe Charlotte will end up at Marlborough.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Pacific Coast News.
There are days when I’m glad I’m a regular person and not under scrutiny for my every decision and having to follow so many traditions and protocols.
I assume that’s every day. These people don’t seem thrilled with their lives.
Eton isn’t actually the conventional royal choice. Neither Charles nor his brother went there, not did most other members of the extended royal family. I believe Charles Spencer did, however. And this is generally the age at which kids have to get signed up. In NYC kids start “interviewing” for the elite private schools, and even the selective public ones, for which competition is fierce, when they are toddlers!
A lot of NYC private schools are K-12. K is the smallest class (25-40), then they add more kids along the way until there’s a bigger intake at 9th grade (100-110) bc high school is all about college admission. There are some more ‘interesting’ schools which go to 8th grade but then you’re delaying the stress of admission. It’s nice to just get in at Kindergarten but that doesn’t always happen. Added to this are preferences to keep siblings in the same school so realistically there are even less spots.
Eton and Harrow (Hiddles, Cumberbatch) are the boarding schools. Unless George is a really bad student I believe he’d get in anywhere he wants to go.
UGH- Eton gets up my nose since all the Tories (an absolute shower) are directly responsible for this Brexit mess and everything after it. Eat the rich, honestly.
Heh, in that case do you hate Oxford, too? It gave us Cameron and Johnson – not to mention May…
That bloody PPP course lol
My colleague went to Eton and he isn’t rich. His parents did very well but they aren’t rolling in money or anything. He’s also extremely liberal and extremely anti-BREXIT. I’ve met a few of his old Etonian friends and they are the same. I don’t think we should assume that all people from one school or perceived socioeconomic class all think and vote the same way.
Exactly.
Yes, thank you, SKF. Exactly.
Debate the policies not the personal.
Really. The first party that pledged to exit the EU was the Labour party under Michael Foot as an election manifesto promise in 1983 but don’t let facts get in the way of your prejudices. All the parties have been in favour of exit and made promises about it, it just so happens it took decades for some politicians to actually live up to their promises.
I found it hard to go to college, sending such a small child away for months seems really cruel.
It’s quite expected, ‘normal’ even for some (many) families. My husband went to boarding school from 10-18 and quite adored it, and has lots of fond memories. It’s not for everyone, o viously, but a bit of a stretch to label it cruel I think. What was cruel was that my parents refused to pull me out of a school where I was isolated and bullied from age 10-15 (bi-racial nerdy kid in Georgia) because it was the ‘right’ kind of school.
I mean everyone tries to do right by their child and what seems normal and right to them at the time…no need to start labelling people as cruel etc
UK boarding schools are so early! Most US boarding schools are usually just high school (14) although some start in 7th grade (12). It’s extremely rare to start earlier. I couldn’t believe UK parents in this day send their kids to boarding school at age 6!
I’ve never understood sending your kids off to boarding school either (except for kids who are from farms and don’t necessarily have loads of options). However, my colleague went to boarding school – to Eton in fact, and he absolutely loved it. He said it was the making of him and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. So there you go? I don’t think it’s for everyone but some kids seem to thrive in that kind of environment.
There are two issues here: boarding school and posh training facilities. I think many of us would have benefited from growing up away from family drama, learning skills of self-sufficiency at early ages. But some boarding schools are specifically designed to groom the ruling elite.
Probably the saddest episode of The Crown was the one where Prince Philip insisted that Prince Charles go to the same Scottish boarding school that he had gone to instead of Eton, where Charles wanted to go. Charles was miserable at that school for all the years he went. The end of the episode specifically noted that Charles sent his own sons to Eton instead of the Scottish school he and Prince Philip had attended.
Yes I remember that episode! Poor Charles
That was so sad. Edward went there-and Anne sent Peter and Zara there-so clearly they liked it more than poor Charles.
Well, that was something Diana and Charles were in agreement on because Diana definitely wanted Eton.
In my country, there are boarding schools that start the age of 2,5 and continues till the child reaches the age of 18. The schools are created for the parents who are fulltime workers who work in competitive fields and are ambitious and don’t have time for their kids during work week, because they come home late and can’t give the attention that child needs. It is made up so that after the mother decides to return the workforce, the parents don’t have to worry about childcare and they send the childto one of those school instead. And the child only comes home for the weekend and the holidays, if the parents wish for it or for a day in the weekend plus the holidays. Depends on what works for them.
Why bother having kids at all in that case? I wanted to watch my daughter grow up, form a close bond with her.
Though once the teen years were really in full swing, I started daydreaming about boarding schools, LOLOLOLOL!
Just what I was thinking too. Why bother having kids if you can’t raise them? Especially if you expect them to look after you in your old age. Where’s the emotional attachment?
I don’t get why they don’t want to send their kids to a coed school so they could all be together. Marlborough is coed, and Kate and her sibs went there. They will have to go to prep school starting at 8, which is also boarding unless they send them as day students.
It is much safer for royals to be in boarding school as early as possible because it is a safe environment , with bodyguards of course. Much better than being ferried across London to school everyday in the traffic.
I see that going to default, “security”, can excuse a multitude of sins.
Looks like both William and Kate are going to show for the Irish Guards this year.
A friend of mine went to a boarding school here (14-18) and although she formed some close friendships there and has good memories of her friends she loathed the school and the weird rules. Also when she came to university, which was near home so no need to sleep elsewhere she felt like the fish out of water for a while. She told me she couldn’t talk to her brother. He was a stranger almost to her. Anyway It is easy for the working parents for sure to have the children taken care but these two are not normal working parents. What’s the need of a boarding school?
Say what you will about Kate, I bet it’s going to be hard on her to send her kids off. I just can’t fathom this concept.