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Daily Record
Daily Record
Entertainment
Christopher Sharp & Nicola Croal

How Prince William was first royal to end famous tradition at just 13-years-old

Prince George was recently spotted being given a tour around Eton College which is the prestigious school that his father, Prince William also attended.

The visit has sparked speculation that the young Prince, who is turning ten this month, will follow in the footsteps of his father and attend one of Britain's most respected schools when he turns thirteen.

In 1995, Prince William attended Eton and was joined three years later by his younger brother, Prince Harry in 1998.

However, in attending Eton, Prince William had broken a royal tradition for Britain's most famous family as he became the first senior member of the Firm to attend the school.

In the past, his father, King Charles, grandfather, Prince Philip and uncles Prince Edward and Prince Andrew had all attended Gordonstoun in Scotland, the Express reports.

William broke royal tradition when he was 13-years-old after he became the first senior member of the Firm to attend Eton college instead of Gordonstoun in Scotland (Getty Images/Lonely Planet Image)

William's late mother, Princess Diana decided she wanted her eldest son to follow in the footsteps of her own father and brother's education which was a huge change for the royals.

Once at Eton, the now Prince of Wales reportedly excelled as an athletic and talented student.

During his time there, he captained the swimming team and his house football squad as well as taking up water polo. He was also allegedly quite skilled in the kitchen.

On his historic first day at the college on September 6, 1995 the future King was accompanied by his parents and younger brother for a photo call.

He had previously studied at Ludgrove School in Berkshire where he was famously hit on the head by a golf club.

Diana wanted William and Harry to attend the same school as her father and brother (Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

His experiences at Eton greatly contrasted with his father's allegedly miserable time at Gordonstoun.

In the past rumours have swirled as to whether King Charles enjoyed his time at his school as reports suggest that at one point the King described the Scottish boarding school as “Colditz in kilts”.

In his letters home during the early 1960s he described the place as an “absolute hell”.

He wrote: “The people in my dormitory are foul. Goodness, they are horrid.

Prince Charles attended Gordonstoun School where his father Prince Philip went to and was later joined by his younger brothers Andrew and Edward (Hulton-Deutsch/Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)

“I don’t know how anybody could be so foul. I hardly get any sleep in the House because I snore, and I get hit on the head all the time. It’s absolute hell.”

However, his attitude towards the school quickly changed in adulthood as he told the Observer in 1974: “I’m glad I went to Gordonstoun.

“It wasn’t the toughness of the place – that’s all much exaggerated. It was the general character of the education there.”

Later, in another speech, the King said: “I am always astonished by the amount of rot talked about Gordonstoun and the careless use of ancient clichés used to describe it.”

Gordonstoun has had a number of other famous pupils through its doors including Olympic gold medallist Heather Stanning and film director and son of David Bowie, Duncan Jones.

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