Kate and Prince William are said to be considering a £47k per year school that prioritises children's “happiness” for Prince George's next move.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are facing a difficult decision as Prince George’s time at Lambrook School will be over in just a few years. The Berkshire prep school, located near to the Wales family's Adelaide Cottage home, only teaches pupils up to the age of 13 which makes the question of which school Prince George - who’ll turn 11 in July - will go to next one that needs an answer sooner rather than later. The couple have already reportedly been glimpsed viewing Prince William’s former school, Eton College, as well as Kate’s, Marlborough College, as potential options.
Now it’s claimed that the couple have looked round St Edward’s School in Oxford, known as Teddies. The school charges around £47,000 a year in fees for boarding pupils and according to the Daily Mail, a Teddies grandee has alleged, “They've been to have a look.”
From St Thomas’s in London to Lambrook School, Prince William and Kate have consistently shown their preference for co-educational schools. St Edward’s is also co-educational and it boasts some pretty impressive alumni - including Laurence Olivier and Florence Pugh.
Reflecting upon his philosophy on the school’s website Alastair Chirnside, the Headmaster of St Edward’s who is known as the Warden, has outlined how the students’ “happiness” is the “most important” thing.
“There must be opportunity for all to take part and for all to excel. Children’s happiness and their ability to recognise what will make them happy are more important than anything else,” he declared. “Teachers need not only to impart knowledge and to teach skills, but also to allow children to be themselves.”
Alastair expressed his view that education is a “profoundly personal enterprise” that is “founded on good relationships”. If Prince William and Kate do end up choosing St Edward’s for Prince George then it seems that his “happiness” will be “most important” and he can fully be himself.
St Edward’s offers plenty of extra curricular activities that are sure to excite Prince George, including football, rugby and cricket. The school also has a wide range of societies, like the eco-society which might appeal to the famously eco-conscious Prince of Wales as he and Kate consider their son’s school options.
Interestingly, whilst many of Teddies pupils are boarders, it’s not exclusively a boarding school and around 15% off the school community are day pupils. In recent years reports have claimed that Prince William and Kate have had conflicting opinions over whether Prince George should attend a boarding school like Prince William, King Charles and Prince Philip.
A source previously alleged to In Touch Magazine that Kate wasn’t in favour, though Prince William was apparently keen to uphold this royal tradition.
“Kate long disagreed with her husband about sending him away, even though it’s tradition,” they claimed. “Kate thinks sending him to such a stuffy, upper-crust institution goes against all of their efforts to modernise the monarchy. Plus, she’ll miss George desperately. She and William argued about it for years, but he has finally won.”
Even if Prince George does end up going to St Edwards as a boarding pupil in the future, Oxford is only around an hour’s drive away from Windsor. Eton College is even closer than that, whilst Marlborough College is a similar distance. This might be a major factor in Kate and Prince William’s final decision if they want the comfort of knowing their son could easily come home for visits from a school where he is thriving and happy.
