Prince George starts his first day at Eton College today, embarking on a new chapter that will bring the future king through his formative teenage years and into adulthood. George turned 13 in July and on Tuesday was preparing to begin at one of the most famous boarding schools in the world, walking in his father Prince William's footsteps. It is a busy time for his family, with William due to attend the funeral of King Harald V of Norway in Oslo on Wednesday, but for now the focus will be on George.
Eton will take George from age 13 all the way through to 18 and, unlike most British school children, he will be boarding, giving him freedom outside the royal bubble but also meaning he will have less day-to-day support from his parents. The college is also famously challenging academically, an environment William thrived in. George's uncle, Prince Harry, described struggling to keep up in lessons in his book Spare.
William arrived at Eton on September 6, 1995, also aged 13, and was photographed signing in at the school alongside his parents, King Charles III, then still a prince, and Princess Diana, as well as his brother Prince Harry. William wore a suit and tie for his arrival and smiled broadly for the cameras before being pictured in Eton's distinctive uniform of a tail coat and pinstriped trousers later in the day. William's enrollment was significant because it marked a break with royal tradition.
Prince Philip and Charles both attended Gordonstoun in Scotland but Charles had not enjoyed the experience, describing it as "Colditz in kilts," with reference to the Nazi prisoner of war camp. Instead, Charles and Diana opted for Eton, one of Britain's most prestigious schools and located much closer to royal residences in the south of England. Founded by King Henry VI in 1440, Eton occupies a unique place in British public life.
Located across the River Thames from Windsor, it combines centuries-old traditions with a modern curriculum and extensive sporting and extracurricular opportunities. Students are known for the school's distinctive tailcoats, waistcoats and pinstriped trousers, while generations of alumni have gone on to be prime ministers, literary greats, business leaders and Oscar-winning actors. George will spend the next five years building friendships and gaining experiences that his parents will hope prepare him for the demands of public life.
The school is also conveniently close to the Wales family's Windsor home, allowing a degree of proximity to his parents and younger siblings while still providing the independence associated with boarding-school life. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Dan Orton and Tony Phillips.
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