Reuters
London: Britain’s Prince George, the 12-year-old grandson of King Charles, will follow in the footsteps of his father and attend the prestigious Eton College later this year, Kensington Palace said on Tuesday (UK time).
George’s father, the heir to the throne, Prince William, and his uncle, Prince Harry, both studied at Eton, one of Britain’s most elite schools, which is located close to the monarch’s Windsor Castle, west of London.
“Kensington Palace can confirm that Prince George will attend Eton College from this September,” William’s office said in a statement.
Fees for the all-boys boarding school are about £63,000 ($119,000) a year. Security at the school, where boys live in boarding houses dotted around the small town of Eton, some 33 kilometres west of central London, is already tight.
George, the second-in-line to the throne, currently attends the private Lambrook School with his sister Charlotte and brother Louis near Windsor, where the family lives.
William was the first royal to attend Eton, as Charles went to Gordonstoun, the same private school on the north coast of Scotland that his own father, Prince Philip, had attended.
The future King found life there hard, however, later describing it as “Colditz in kilts” – a reference to the notorious World War II Nazi prisoner of war camp.
The Prince of Wales has said he enjoyed his time at Eton and recently revealed he would often pop over to Windsor Castle at weekends to have tea with his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Eton, founded in 1440, has long been the alma mater for many of the British elite, and has educated 20 prime ministers, including Boris Johnson and David Cameron, as well as actors Hugh Laurie, Damian Lewis and Tom Hiddleston.
It retains many traditions, with pupils wearing tailcoats, waistcoats and gowns, and referring to teachers as “beaks”.
According to the London Telegraph, Prince William remains close to several of his former Eton classmates and is said to want his children to form the same lifelong bonds at boarding school.
His brother Harry, meanwhile, in his book described Eton as the “finest school in the world” and a “profound shock”, adding that “it could only be purgatory for one very unbrilliant boy”.
The British Good Schools Guide describes Eton as a school “that almost single-handedly bears the brunt of society’s discomfort with private education” with a “unique place in the popular consciousness”.
Melanie Sanderson, the school guide’s managing editor, told the BBC that Eton has “spectacular facilities and spacious grounds” and that despite its ancient buildings “is a modern school with a progressive outlook”.
“Most 13-year-old boys cannot possibly know what adult life holds for them. Prince George, however, faces a very particular future and his parents … have decided that an Eton education represents the best preparation for life as a modern working royal,” she said.
The Prince and Princess of Wales had also been considering other schools for George, including Marlborough, Oundle and day schools in London, the Telegraph said.
Reuters
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