The next three weeks will be bittersweet for Prince William and Princess Kate as they soak up the remaining days of summer with Prince George, who will head to boarding school for the first time in September. The 13-year-old heir to the throne is following in his father’s footsteps by attending Eton College, and according to psychologist and school admissions strategist Sarah Suria, the challenge for George will be finding his own path.
“I think what makes this such an interesting moment is that George is entering an age when children begin asking who they are outside of their parents, while becoming increasingly aware of what they have inherited from their family,” Suria tells Marie Claire.
For the past two years, royal circles have buzzed about whether the Prince and Princess of Wales would choose a new educational path for their son, perhaps sending him to Kate's alma mater, Marlborough College. The choice for George to attend the same school as his father presents both benefits and challenges, Suria says.
“Going to Eton, as William did, could offer familiarity and continuity, but the real opportunity is for George to walk into a place associated with his father and still find a way to make the experience his own,” she shares.
Unlike Prince Harry, who also attended Eton College, Prince George is going into secondary school with his path entirely set out in front of him at the age of 13. George also has the challenge of knowing that his father will likely become King at a much younger age than his grandfather King Charles did.
“Adolescence is really about beginning to separate what you’ve inherited from who you are becoming,” Suria notes. “For George, that’s happening within an extraordinary legacy, where parts of his future have been mapped out long before he could have a say in them.”
The Waleses are a famously close family, with Prince William and Princess Kate making it clear that their three children will always come first. Although living away from home at age 13 would challenge any child, Suria says that for George, leaving his family “can offer a different kind of growth.”
“A close-knit home may give a child a secure base; being away asks them to build a larger toolbox for navigating friendships, homesickness, academic demands and everyday setbacks,” she shares.
Prince George already boarded occasionally at Lambrook School, where he was a day student, preparing him for the realities of living away from home full-time. But as journalist Jack Malvern recently told Hello! magazine's "A Right Royal Podcast," even though the Wales family lives geographically close to Eton, “emotionally, there's going to be a cut, because Eton sucks you in.”
However, Suria says that living away will serve George well as he continues in both his academic and royal careers.
“Independence is rarely built in one grand moment,” she shares. “It develops through small experiences of realizing, ‘I can handle this myself.’ For George, learning to stand on his own while maintaining a strong connection to home and family could be particularly meaningful as he grows into a life that will ask him to carry both his family legacy and a strong sense of who he is.”
