UK's Prince George starts new school life at elite Eton College

LONDON: Prince George started at Eton College on Tuesday, as the future British king followed in the footsteps of his father, the heir to the throne Prince William, by attending the prestigious 600-year-old school.

The 13-year-old grandson of King Charles was joined by his parents William and Kate, the Princess of Wales, for his arrival at his new school, with footage showing them smiling and looking relaxed as they were greeted by Eton’s headteacher, Simon Henderson.

Both his father and George’s uncle Prince Harry attended Eton, one of Britain’s most elite schools, which is located close to the monarch’s Windsor Castle, west of London, and where William and his wife Kate and their other two children Charlotte and Louis also have a home.

Fees for the all boys boarding school, which was founded by King Henry VI in 1440, are about £65,000 a year.

George, the second in line to the throne, was previously at the private Lambrook School also near Windsor with his sister and younger brother.

William became the first royal to attend Eton, as Charles went to Gordonstoun, the same private school on the north coast of Scotland that his father Prince Philip had attended, but found life there hard.

Conversely, William has said he enjoyed his time at the school and recently disclosed how he would often pop over to Windsor Castle at weekends to have tea with his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth.

Eton has long been the alma mater for many of the country’s elite, and has educated 20 British prime ministers, including Boris Johnson and David Cameron, as well as actors Hugh Laurie, Damian Lewis and Tom Hiddleston.

It retains many traditions, with pupils wearing tailcoats, waistcoats and gowns, and referring to teachers as “beaks”.

George’s first day also happened to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the death of his great-grandmother and the accession of Charles to the throne.