Prince George, second in line to the throne, will begin his studies at Eton College this September, Kensington Palace has announced. The 12-year-old, who will turn 13 next month, will follow his father, the Prince of Wales, and his uncle, Prince Harry, to the historic Berkshire boarding school where fees run to around £63,000 a year.
The announcement ends months of speculation about which school George would attend after finishing his final term at Lambrook School in July, where he has been studying alongside his sister Charlotte and brother Louis. Among the options under discussion was Marlborough College, his mother Catherine’s alma mater. But the family has chosen the more traditional route: Eton, founded in the 15th century and alma mater to 20 British prime ministers, including Lord David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg.
“Prince George will attend Eton College from September, following his father and uncle to the £63,000-a-year school.”
Prince William, interviewed in 2000 at age 18, spoke warmly of his own time at Eton. “I’ve really enjoyed being able to go about Eton as just another student,” he told People magazine. His brother Harry painted a different picture in his memoir, Spare, writing that rugby became his stress relief as he struggled to fit in. “Rugby let me indulge my rage. I simply didn’t feel pain the way other boys did, which made me scary on a pitch,” the Duke of Sussex wrote.
The school, which has 25 boarding houses each housing around 55 boys, provides each pupil with a private single room. “Some boys take to boarding like a fish to water; others take a minute to settle in,” notes the Good Schools Guide. Melanie Sanderson, the guide’s managing editor, said Eton has “spectacular facilities and spacious grounds”, adding: “Yet despite its ancient buildings, it is a modern school with a progressive outlook. Most 13-year-old boys arriving there in September cannot possibly know what adult life holds for them. Prince George, however, faces a very particular future and his parents, with an unrivalled choice of schools available to them, have decided that an Eton education represents the best preparation for life as a modern working royal.”
George was seen at the weekend with his parents and siblings at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London. The costs for his education will include the VAT added by the government to private school fees. As the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, he is second in line of succession to the throne.
Old Etonian celebrities include actors Eddie Redmayne, Dominic West, Damian Lewis and Tom Hiddleston, and adventurer Bear Grylls – a diverse legacy for a boy who will soon don the school’s trademark tailcoat and white tie.