A note for our American readers: when British people say “public school,” they’re referring to what we call “private schools.” Britain’s private schools are everywhere, and they are a huge wealth and class signifier. Interestingly, in recent years, there’s been a steady and noticeable drop in British private-school enrollment. That’s the backstory for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moving back to the UK and enrolling their children in private schools. While Team Sussex has emphasized that they sent in Archie and Lili’s school applications months ago, they only learned in August that Archie and Lili were accepted. When really, I think at this point, Britain’s private schools are probably taking every applicant just as long as they can pay. Well, now Page Six is letting everyone know that Archie and Lili are attending a $35,000-a-year private school.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s two children will attend a posh UK prep school with a hefty tuition fee. Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, will be students at a private school that costs more than $35,000 a year, Page Six can exclusively reveal.
The ritzy institution features several state-of-the-art amenities like an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center, expansive grass playing fields and multiple AstroTurf sports pitches. It also has river access for boating and kayaking.
Additionally, the campus has art studios, a cooking room, multiple science labs, a large theater and a music and performing arts center featuring practice rooms, classrooms, rehearsal spaces, a recital hall and a beautiful garden.
Pupils also have access to a gourmet dining hall that serves breakfast, lunch, and supper with a variety of intricate dishes including falafel and slow-roasted lamb shoulder.
Page Six has decided not to name the school for privacy reasons.
Page Six has reached out to Markle and Harry’s reps for comment.
Ahead of the kids’ first day of school, parents at a posh school in the UK received a letter warning not to take photos and videos of students.
Archie and Lilibet are reportedly set to begin school this week. Meanwhile, their cousin Prince George, 13, will begin classes in September at Prince William and Harry’s alma mater boarding school, Eton College.
I can’t imagine how tough it will be for Archie and Lili to go to a British school. I know kids are resilient and adaptable, but they’re probably still jet-lagged and getting used to living in a completely different country, and on top of all that, they’re the subjects of all of this reporting and speculation. I hope this private school is nice and that Archie and Lili have a good experience there.
Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram.
I actually think they will be fine. Kids are resilient – especially when they’re young. I think the move would be harder if they were pre-teens or teenagers. This is the perfect age to do it if you’re going to make a big move like this. And they moved to an English-speaking country. Their Dad is British so they are used to British-English. I think the biggest change will be having to wear a uniform. Which I don’t think the private school they attended in California required.
$35,000-a-year is actually pretty standard for a private primary school. Fees get more brutal if kids are boarding at secondary school (the fees more than double).
And the amenities sound pretty standard too, anyone could have come up with that list without even knowing the name of the school.
So no news, really. What a surprise. The media have been absolutely starved of Harry and Meghan news this past week, so they’re back to writing pages and pages about nothing.
Interesting to see them holding off publishing the name of the school – maybe due to the various threats of litigation they’ve received?
It is an educated guess. Ofcourse they will go to a private school. Why, do they expect them to send them to a Comprehensive school, so they would look down on them as the poor relation? Harry and Meghan both went to private schools so this is a non-story. What do they want confirmation from their team for?
Excuse my ignorance, but it’s two kids going to this school. Just out of curiosity, is it $35,000 for both of them? Or is it $35,000 each? It’s a lot either way but $70,000 is kinda mind blowing for elementary school. And, no, I have no idea how much it is now in the US. When I went to an all girls Catholic high school sixty years ago, it was about $1,000 per student. My parents weren’t rich at all. They often struggled, but our education was a top priority. For which I will always be grateful.
$35K per kid, I am sure. I live in Manhattan, and my kids are in a school where elementary school’s tuition is about $60K per year. For middle school and high school, it goes up to $70K. My inlaws help us pay the tuition, and yes, I question my life choices every day.
I still remember my mom giving me the check every semester and then delivering it to the office where I was instructed to wait while they made out a receipt. If your kids are in a good school, they will thank you someday. Even in high school, I was aware that my parents were sacrificing for my education. It’s the greatest gift a parent can give.
I would guess $35k per student is typical. In my small town, the Catholic school is $12k/year. And it has no amenities. None. And that’s with the discount of being a parishioner.
Fees range from $15-40k/student in the largest city in my state.
They’re paying per kid, and that price in on par with what private, non-Catholic schools (at that age) where I am in Baltimore. Actually, $35k for a child in grades 1-5 is actually a good price compared to private schools where I am, with more amenities.
I live in SoCal and a popular private catholic school pre-8th is 15k/year per child which is considered an exceptional deal. Many of the others are 20-40k a year per child.
Generally speaking, catholic schools tend to be cheaper. For example I’m in baltimore, and the more prestigious Catholic boy schools (the ones that are on par with the ritzy private schools in terms of amenities and such) are about 20k a year for HS. the ritzy private school is 40k a year for HS, 29k for kindergarten, 38k for elementary school and 39k for middle school (just verified on the website ha.)
So 35k for what i’m sure is a fancy private school in England sounds about right.
Private schools in NYC are basically 60k to 100k now. We toured the UK for schools for our kid and were delighted to find they are significantly cheaper than those in the NY/CT/NJ area- even the top ones in the UK are still less.
Prior to the large exit of nuns in the US post Vatican II the catholic schools benefited enormously from the nuns free labor as teachers. There aren’t enough now.
By NYC standards, $35K is not bad. The Trinity School in Manhattan charges $71,500 per year, Fieldston is $70,890. Both schools have indoor pools and multiple athletic fields (Fieldston has a large campus in The Bronx and Trinity uses the roof of the buildings for a full sized soccer pitch). Absolutely insane (my own child graduated from a comparable school years ago – we were finished before the price tags got too obscene).
Bay Area here – my son’s school starts at kinder and the cost is $47k, going up in MS and the HS is $65k. $35k is not expensive. And yes, education is worth the sacrifice.
They’ll be fine. They’re so young. Their peers won’t have any awareness of the media. Also, $35,000 is standard for a private school.
By including those details, page 6 has effectively named to the school. This is vile.
Right? How many schools serve roasted lamb shoulder in the dining hall? Maybe it’s standard in the UK but it sounds awfully specific.
Lamb is a higher cost meat but shoulder is cheaper than leg. I would call it fairly posh.
There will be photographers camped in every school that fits that description in the Cotswolds.
I was thinking the river access was pretty specific & would help narrow the field. And ‘Page 6 has chosen not to reveal’; I call bullsh*t! They’ll get their a**es sued if they public the name of the school!
That is actually a bargain compared to US private schools. For example BBN is $50K a year for the grades Archie and Lilibet will be in.
Yeah they’ve done all but named the school.
Yes, but don’t you love that coy bit about not releasing the school’s name “for privacy reasons”? Cute.
That’s what I thought, as well. They dropped just enough detail for people to be able to figure out which school it is (especially the lake part). And also agree with the price comment: $35K is not bad for a private school.
The cost of the school is irrelevant to the British taxpayers, because they’re not paying the fees.
So why publish it?
The Wales’ kids’ schools. How much is that costing taxpayers?
No they haven’t! Schools these days have insane menus, with gluten vegan, halal options for all their international pupils.
And river access doesnt mean the school is by a river, means they have their own boathouse on a river.
It literally applies to dozens of schools in the South of England alone.
Eton is £65,000 a year. I don’t know about the Prep school. But William with an income of at least £20 million a year from the Duchy of Cornwall will not be worrying about school fees.
I would expect nothing less from a publication owned by the Murdochs.
THIS. Exactly. Vile doesn’t begin to cover it.
And pointing out that it “has river access” just gives a green light to additional stalkers and potential attackers.
I wonder how these hacks would feel if people went out of the way to make THEIR children as vulnerable as they are attempting to make the Sussex family.
There are not many prep schools in the area fitting that description. I found just four on a quick Google and one of them is due to close and is taking no new admissions. (i’d be interested in why). The school Zara Tindall’s children attend looks good but it doesn’t entirely fit the description given.
My understanding is that parents now pay VAT on top of school fees. Many uk independent schools have vacancies as a result.
Of course, it will be so easy now to find out which school it is. Mind you, this information would still have found its way out. Parents are bound to gossip to family and friends.
My children are late thirties early forties and tuition for several private schools we looked at for them to attend in several areas in and around the Great Lakes including Canada many of the elite schools were right around 35,000$ per year, higher if the student boarded so the cost isn’t shocking to see I do get very confused with how they label British public/private schools. Hope it’s a fun experience for them.
I really don’t understand the desire to send their kids to school in England. You can get all of those amenities at a private school in California — without having to worry about protecting their privacy.
It’s their perogative to choose what type of education they want for their children. Probably it was the plan all along. They don’t have to tell us everything. I hope Archie and Lilibet settle in and make some nice friends.
That’s my hope, too. And I agree they don’t need our approval.
I just have lived both in England and America and the latter, for all of our problems (including gun violence) just offers more space in which to write your own story.
But you DO have to worry about school shootings in California.
The Press regulator does have a system to protect school children but whether that works is a different matter. A gentleman’s agreement. It was common knowledge where the Wales children went for Prep.
Since when is falafel “intricate”?
Maybe they meant to say « ethnic . » It’s not stodge anyway lol.
Yeah, that was…something. I mean, falafel is actually on NYC public school menus (or it was the last time I was teaching fulltime, pre-COVID). Hell, a lot of kids got more excited for that than they did for pizza day.
😞
Indoor door swimming pool, fitness center, playing fields, multiple AstroTurf sports pitches, a RIVER, cooking room, gourmet dining hall (that serves slow-roasted lamb)…
Poor Archie and Lilli. How WILL they manage?????
These amenities are very similar to a private K-8 in my area, one of those country day schools. It’s really shady how they’re stalking them, because they really don’t need to know any of these details of their life.
Aside from the river acess and roasted lamb, this list of amenities – indoor swimming pool, fitness center, grass playing fields, AstroTurf sports pitches, art studios, a cooking room, multiple science labs, a large theater and a music and performing arts center featuring practice rooms, classrooms, rehearsal spaces, a recital hall and garden – is pretty standard at even public schools in the U.S.
And many schools in my region that don’t have gardens often have nature areas.
Indoor swimming pool – not unusual in large high schools.
Fitness center – there’s a weight room and gym in every school I’ve been familiar with.
Grass and astroturf fields – Football and baseball, anyone?
Art studios – we call them art rooms.
Cooking room – Home Ec or life skills rooms.
Science labs – what they said.
Large theater and performing arts center – less of a given, but still not uncommon. And music rooms are everywhere (even if funding for a music teacher isn’t).
This is rage-trolling.
I was going to say, my public high school had all that except the swimming pool (the swim team used the local public pool & one of the elementary school’s pools) & river access. We also had a planetarium & full auto shop, plus an artist-in-residence program.
Yes. My public and private high school education had all those things with the exception of a swimming pool. P6 doing their damndest to ruffle up certain factions.
$35K a year is on par with private schools in the US, certainly in the larger cities and on the coasts. Catholic schools tend to be a little more affordable, or at least they were. But the price tag is not in the least noteworthy, honestly.
Sounds like a nice school. I wish them both a smooth adjustment and lots of learning and fun.
I’m in NYC, and I can’t speak for other large cities, but my 14-year-old stepdaughter’s school is almost $70K (not including sports, clubs, private lessons, etc.), which is roughly the same as what my brothers and friends are paying for their kids at other NYC private schools. We’re very happy with the education my stepdaughter is getting, but I’m well aware that it’s honestly kind of insane. Boarding school prices for day schools, basically.
Oh yes, the priciest NYC schools are astronomical. I’m in Houston and private schools are cheaper, though still quite $$$. Catholic schools are a comparative bargain.
I firmly believe the extra curriculars can be/are as important as core learning for cognitive and emotional development. BUT Mygawd between kayaking, swimming, and taking a steam, when do you actually learn calculus? (Don’t come at me with they’re too young. I’m mostly just being jelly of the amenities.)
The best part of this non-story: “the campus has art studios, a cooking room, multiple science labs, a large theater and a music and performing arts center featuring practice rooms, classrooms, rehearsal spaces, a recital hall and a beautiful garden”
The campus has “classrooms”! “science labs”! a “recital hall”! “art studios”! a “beautiful garden”! Just like 100% of private schools across the UK!
Truly insightful reporting…
And just like many private schools and even many public schools in the US. So, basically, except for the lamb shoulder and river access, we now know that these two kids will going to a private school. I’d actually be more interested in learning about the amenities and fees at Gordonstoun and Eton. Maybe next week we’ll get the Eton details.
Fees at Eton are on the internet.
So are the fees for this school, which is why they’re being reported. Funny how they don’t want to report on the contrast between Eton & whatever school this is.
Yes, public schools have this too. My public middle school in NJ had a big gym, auditorium, music room and home ec room (plus shop, or woodworking). Outdoor fields too. And it was the one in the most economically disadvantaged neighborhood in town. The other ones were nicer. And the high school had all of this plus an outdoor ampitheater of sorts and other amenities.
The funny thing is that my kids’ public middle and high schools also had art studios, multiple science labs, and a large theater (and a practice room). They had pretty decent sports facilities. Their public elementary school had a performance space, science lab/art studio (shared space), cooking room, and garden. I know the facilities were nothing like those at private schools, but the listing of common school amenities made me literally laugh out loud.
I thought it was standard stuff, having an auditorium in addition to a gym in a high school. Public high school. 🤷♀️. Also chem labs, cooking kitchens, art studios, etc. Oh, I forgot, we also had a greenhouse at our senior high school.
Thanks to Page 6, “$35,000 Private School near Cotswolds with the following amenities–indoor swimming pool, river, (etc…)” is trending.
“Page Six has decided not to name the school for privacy reasons.”
Bullsh!t. Page six and many other outlets likely got a warning from the Sussex legal team to not specifically name the school, or else, but they have given enough identifiers here that I’m sure people could still figure it out.
It sounds like a nice enough private school, I just… personally, I can’t imagine subjecting my children to education in the very same class-based system that caused the family so much heartache. I’m sure Californian private schools aren’t perfect, either, but…yeah. Lucky for me that I didn’t marry royalty, I guess.
Also, is Astroturf…fancy? I associate the name with that cheap awful neon green stuff from the 90’s, but maybe it has come a long way since then.
Actually, the warning they got also instructed them not to print details which could be used to identify their new home or the school, so Page 6 is skating on VERY thin ice here. I would not be surprised if they received a legal letter about this report.
The lamb shoulder and falafel detail make it sound like there is a large Middle Eastern presence ? The amenities listed are standard but the food detail may be them putting forth a real identifier. What vultures.
I think the food detail was more a British tabloid dogwhistle about ‘immigrants’ & ‘wokeness’ & what’s wrong with good ol’ British food? etc.
Plus, a lot of public American schools that are serious about their football & soccer put in astroturf rather than grass. ‘Turf is easier to maintain, more durable, doesn’t turn muddy, etc.
I hope the school will do everything it can to protect them and I hope Archie and Lili will have a good time.
$35K is average for private schools in my area and is on the lower side of many schools, which are as high as $60k for high schools. I hear NYC schools are upwards of $40K for K-8 so why is this even an article? This really isn’t anyone’s business. How gracious of them not to publish the name of the school, ugh.
I wonder if Page Six has ever published such details, including prices, about the Wales children’s schools?
Well we know which schools they go to, and we’ve seem them on their first days so no need to add loads of details
They did all but tell us the school colors!!
It’s funny I actually have a coworker and a friend, who dont know each other, who were both born in the US but spent some years in school in Germany because one of their parents were German. The guy says it was hard to adjust to the schedule at first but he really enjoyed the different way of living there and it obviously helped him feel closer to that other side of himself so hopefully this will work out for Archie and Lili. Still not big on this move but glad theyre not in London where they’d know no peace or near Windsor and The Other Brother.
It’s called Jigsaw identification and it has been the subject of a number of legal challenges in recent years against people posting in a personal capacity on the internet about stories that were under embargo owing either to ongoing legal action and / or injunctions gagging the media on an institutional level. They have to know that outing a primary school is a pretty bad look, as they put it, but they drop enough breadcrumbs to titillate their readers. And their readers… don’t likely go to “public” schools. A lot of this is class porn.
UK private schools recently lost their status as charities (I think) and now have to pay full VAT, hence the drop in applications. The “doing well” can no longer afford the inflated fees. some schools have shut because of this.
The UK government has not reversed the 20% VAT on private school fees, and the tax implemented in January 2025 remains fully in place.
Current Policy Status Tax Rate: A standard 20% VAT applies to private school education and boarding fees.
Business Rates: Charitable business rates relief for private schools in England was removed in April 2025.
Ouch! 20%!!
I absolutely hate that P6 keeps referring to the Duchess as Markle.
It’s for the algorithm, same as they always write Kate Middleton
They could at least call her Meghan Markle, To use a surname like that sounds disparaging to me.
Even at a young age this move is going to be a huge adjustment in so many ways, and especially the school. Although superior in facilities, class sizes etc., it’s going to be an immersion in privilege, social hierarchy and an almost institutional culture. It’s stating the obvious to say that Archie and Lilibet were privileged when in Montecito yet this will be on a completely different scale.
Really? Unless you’re unusually familiar with each of the schools being discussed, isn’t it a leap to assume that the facilities and class sizes are “superior “ at their new school? Are all British schools “on a completely different scale” from even the most sumptuous private schools in the US?
The most important thing is that the children have supportive parents with them.
The papers are going too far. There is nothing about the school they are attending that should be anyone’s business
Funny how Page 6 didn’t feel the need to publish such details about the children’s schools in the US, yet is suddenly emboldened to place numerous identifying features in its publication, while claiming that it has not named the school for privacy reasons. Not clever by half. It’s almost as though they are trying to get sued.
So what do they call the regular Joe public schools?
They’re called “state schools”.
Comprehensive Schools, are non fee paying. In Britain as Kaiser stated, Public School is a very posh Private School. Nothing public about it.
I highly doubt Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet have any clue how famous they are. At least I hope they don’t. In Southern California, all their playdates were at other rich and famous people’s homes with other people’s rich and famous children. Now they will experience the country where they are actually a Prince and a Princess in line for the crown. Whether we like it or not, and I don’t like it for any of them, this is their inheritance.
Wishing Archie and lili a great school year and sending them god prayers and blessings.
In Connecticut, certain private schools cost $70,000 a year per pupil. So no, for the Northeast U.S., $35,000. per kid is not expensive. I too hope the kids do great. Have a happy school year, kids!
FWIW, my public high school in metropolitan suburb in NE US, had many of the facilities. We even had our own planetarium, which was really cool. No lamb for lunch though. I should add this was a long time ago in what feels like a galaxy far,far away.
We had a planetarium, too! And for Spanish class, we translated the script & recorded it for the Spanish speaking members of the community! Oh, this was in small-town Oregon, btw.
IMHO the objective of this story is to make the Sussex children unsafe. There is nothing newsworthy in this article about the children’s school. But, when you couple it with all of the articles that indicate the security for this family may be subpar, it seems like an effort to greenlight any sinister plans that may be afoot. If that is not the objective, I am still appalled because this article is still irresponsible. Except for confirming legacy attendance at a high profile institution or children of governmental officials, I can not think of even one other article providing details about the elementary school of the children of high profile individuals. This is especially true when it known that people are actively seeking to harm the children. This is SHAMEFUL BEYOND WORDS!
🎯
This information would still have found its way out, Page Six just wanted to get in first. Parents are bound to gossip to family and friends. Very soon the name of the school will become public knowledge.
Getting tired of reading about the superiority of the British school system. The system is so superior, that according to Kate, the country needs to be educated about the early years.
It is well-documented that Meghan is better educated than Kate.
Meghan speaks three languages fluently: Spanish, French and English. Kate spent a year in Italy as an adult, that was too old and not long enough to become fluent.
Also, Meghan’s school would have never tolerated Midddlebum showing her bare ass out of the windows. Meghan’s school has the stated objective of producing women leaders.
Meghan attended an elite university.
I’m an old Army brat and I know it isn’t the same as the Suxxes move because we often saw the same families at different postings because our father’s had parallel careers, but what makes each move a success (or failure) is whether both father + mother are on the same page. Of course, in Army life, the moves aren’t permanent. If a post is crummy, you know you won’t be living there long. Or – that’s just the way life is.
So, as long as Harry and Meghan are in agreement with everything to do with the move + the school, etc – or, at least, good at hiding it when they aren’t – the kids will be okay.
This school sounds pretty nice!
Coming from a family of public school educators (grandfather + my siblings) I just wanna say – I wish people would cut it out with the trashing of American schools. You are playing right into the hands of the current Sec of Education who wants to basically privatize all schools + exert ideological control over “Woke.” (Don’t get me started about their trying to destroy Title lX + the ADA school requirements)
Some schools are good and some schools are bad.
Maybe I’m prejudiced in favor of public schools because of my family + also because, by the time I was JH thru HS, we lived in a solid middle-class DC suburb with excellent schools. But, come on – I doubt a majority of CB readers send their kids to private schools.