Last week, Prince William and Kate were seen at Eton, alongside their oldest son Prince George. Eton College is where William and Harry were both sent, because their father always wanted to go to Eton, but his father forced him to go to Gordonstoun (where Charles was bullied and terrorized). Eton is the favored boarding school for the elite, the future kings, prime ministers, dukes and earls of England. George will soon be 10 years old, so if he goes to Eton, it won’t be for another three years. But that got people wondering about the logistics – will George spend the next few years at a boarding school in preparation for Eton? Why did Kate seemingly compromise about George’s education, when she had always been anti-boarding school before now? And of course: will the Waleses end up moving into Windsor Castle? From Richard Kay’s latest Daily Mail piece:

One thing we have come to learn about Prince William is his absence of sentiment. The conventions that govern so much of Royal Family life have either been ignored or ruthlessly rejected by a prince who is determined to go his own way. Nothing illustrates this more than the education of his children. None of the three schools William attended in his early years has featured when choosing where George, Charlotte and Louis would be educated.

So the reports that Prince George had been spotted on a tour of Eton have come as something of a surprise. Many wondered if the second-in-line to the throne would continue the co-ed teaching he is currently receiving in the wide-open spaces of Lambrook prep, near Ascot, by spending his teenage years at Marlborough College — the mixed school where his mother, Kate, was so happy. There is, of course, still plenty of time for other schools to feature. George is not yet ten and won’t be eligible for Eton until the autumn of 2026, when he will be 13.

William’s arrival at Eton also represented a rare moment of parental unity. At the time, Charles and Diana were in the middle of a separation that had grown increasingly ugly and bitter, with each taking pot-shots at the other. But when it came to their sons’ schooling, they managed to find common ground. William was the first heir to the throne not to be taught by a governess at Buckingham Palace. Instead, he was sent first to a nursery and then as a day boy to Wetherby pre-prep in Notting Hill, with Diana doing the school-runs. She was determined her son should eventually go to Eton, where both her father, Earl Spencer, and brother had been educated. Diana had fond memories of visiting her brother, Charles — then Viscount Althorp — during his schooldays, and taking him to tea in nearby Windsor.

There was one other aspect to William’s time at Eton that helped to shape him. Eton’s proximity to Windsor Castle allowed him to spend precious time with his grandmother, the late Queen. The two would often meet for tea in her private apartments, and these occasions became vital staging posts not just on his road to maturity but also in his education in the role of the monarchy.Might William be hoping that, in time, King Charles will offer his grandson the same kind of tutorials he enjoyed? Or could he and Kate even be planning to move into the Castle themselves? It is entirely possible.

The King adores his grandfatherly duties and would love to introduce his young heir to royal history and even an appreciation of Windsor Castle’s treasure-trove of art, just as his grandmother, the late Queen Mother, did for him more than 60 years ago.

Then there is also reassuring familiarity. Many of William and Kate’s friends will be sending their sons to Eton. Its proximity to the family home in the castle grounds could be another draw.

By all accounts George is already engaged by the rhythms of school life. At Thomas’s, his previous school in Battersea, he was a model pupil, regularly receiving its ‘golden unicorn’ prizes for class and homework. He is said to have a sweet but sensitive nature. Some boys find life at Eton — with 1,350 pupils — hard to adjust to.

[From The Daily Mail]

George is always described as “sensitive” and “quiet” and I have no idea if that’s just some royal PR or if George happily did not inherit his father’s tendency towards incandescent rage. William was a holy terror from a young age – it genuinely does not look like George is the same. Kay seems to suggest (in that particularly British way) that Eton might “toughen up” a sensitive kid. I kind of hate that. I also find it interesting that the Wales kids have not had a carbon-copy version of William’s education, and as I’ve said many times, that seems to be Kate’s influence. She’s gotten her way on the kids’ education… up until now. Something has changed. As for the Wales family maybe moving into Windsor Castle… lol, Charles isn’t giving it up. Charles wants to keep the castle all to himself. But I do think that William and Kate don’t spend much time under the same roof, and that Adelaide Cottage is mostly for Kate and the kids, while William is God knows where.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.