Prince George will soon graduate from Lambrook, where he boards at least some of the time. In August/September, he will start a new school. No one has actually confirmed where he will go. Instead, the Prince and Princess of Wales have spent the past three years fighting over George’s education, with their fight spilling out into the British press. We’ve known for some time that Kate is opposed to Eton and opposed to same-sex education. We’ve known all along that William is pro-Eton for George (although maybe not for Louis). Every few months, there’s been a new chapter to this saga. Well, now Charlotte Griffiths is telling Katie Nicholl (it’s the “two dumb bitches” meme come to life) that Kate has been “like a yo-yo” about George’s school and she can’t make up her mind.
Prince William’s recent revelation that Prince George has been boarding at school in preparation for next year has fueled fresh speculation about where the 12-year-old royal will enroll come September. George is getting used to the idea of being away from home by boarding several nights a week at Lambrook, a coeducational preparatory school in Ascot, Berkshire, which he currently attends with his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.
While [William’s confession] has sparked more speculation about where Prince George will start school this September, Vanity Fair has learned that the Prince and Princess of Wales are also considering a new school for Princess Charlotte after they were spotted visiting Oundle, a coed boarding school in Northamptonshire.
“When they were photographed visiting Oundle School, people assumed it was George, but in fact it was to consider options for Charlotte as she may also leave [Lambrook] at the same time,” a source tells Vanity Fair. “There are lots of things they are discussing in terms of schools, and it’s possible that there may be two school leavers at the end of term. The firm favorite for George is Eton.” (Both Prince William and Prince Harry are Eton College alumni.)
Both William and Kate Middleton want their children to board. Prince William loved his time at Eton, where he would sometimes be allowed to leave the school grounds to visit his grandparents Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Windsor Castle, or “WC,” as William would jokingly refer to the castle. Catherine boarded at the all-girls house, Elmhurst, at Marlborough, where she was on the tennis team as well as the field hockey team along with her sister, Pippa.
Initially, Marlborough was considered the first choice for George, because it is coed and would have meant that all three siblings could be together. But according to royal expert Charlotte Griffiths, Eton is now the front-runner.
“The Wales family’s school decision has been a royal merry-go-round which continues to spin, even now, close to the end of summer term,” she said. “Eton was always the obvious choice for George, but Catherine has changed her mind many times and I’m told she’s ‘been like a yo-yo.’ This is to her credit as she knows how important it is to get the decision right for the future king.”
“They did look at Oundle for George, but now I think they could be considering it for Charlotte. The school prides itself on forming children who are ‘never arrogant’ and that’s very in keeping with the Middleton ethos, which is why I think Catherine likes it.”
William and Catherine were spotted visiting the Northamptonshire school, which would cost 46,000 British pounds per year to board Charlotte, to meet with a housemaster earlier this month. Added Griffiths, “It has a junior school which starts at 11, so it could be that they are looking at it for Princess Charlotte.”
The palace will make an announcement in due course.
No, I don’t think Kate is pro-boarding school, nor do I think she’s pro-Eton. I think she’s done everything she can to maneuver George into a coed school and manipulate public opinion against Eton, but at the end of the day, it’s likely to be a losing battle. The fact that George is just a few months away from starting a new school and Eton is still being centered conversationally shows that there was always a flat expectation that George would follow in his father’s footsteps. Now, we should discuss the expectations for Kate when both George and Charlotte are away at boarding school. Will she and William still maintain that they need to be available 24-7 for Louis’s school run? Will they still need Nanny Maria and Maria’s nanny assistant? Will they have more time to be a “foursome” with Rose Hanbury and David Rocksavage??
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
