Kensington Palace has confirmed that Prince George will go to Eton College in September, ending weeks of speculation over where the second in line to the throne will continue his education. He will join the Berkshire school after leaving Lambrook School, where he has been studying with Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
The move puts George, who turns 13 next month, on the same path his father followed. The Prince of Wales also attended Eton, and Prince Harry and Earl Spencer were among other members of the royal family who studied there.
The choice carries obvious symbolism. Eton was founded in the 15th Century and has long educated Britain’s political and royal elite, with 20 British prime ministers among its former pupils. It is also one of the country’s most expensive schools, with fees around £63,000 a year, making it a very different world from the state sector most children enter at 13.
That contrast has always shadowed Eton’s appeal. Melanie Sanderson, of the Good Schools Guide, described its “spectacular facilities and spacious grounds” and said: “Yet despite its ancient buildings, it is a modern school with a progressive outlook.” She added that George’s parents, with a wide range of schools available to them, have decided that an Eton education “represents the best preparation for life as a modern working royal.”
For George, the practical shift is as important as the prestige. Eton has 25 boarding houses, each with about 55 pupils, and residential staff led by a house master. The Good Schools Guide says each boy is given a private single room. George will become a boarder there, stepping into a system built around independence, routine and a degree of privacy that few children in his position ever experience.
The unanswered question is how he will take to that life once term begins in September. William once said in June 2000 that he had “really enjoyed being able to go about Eton as just another student,” but George arrives with far less room to be ordinary. His school choice is now settled; what remains unknown is how Eton will manage the balance between royal scrutiny and the normal life it promises.
