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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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Prince George was pictured arriving at $85,000-a-year Eton College alongside his mother Princess Kate and father Prince William 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 began the next phase of his education 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.
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He was all smiles as he arrived with his parents at the prestigious Berkshire school, where he was photographed by accredited media. He later posed in Eton's schoolyard in his uniform, consisting of a tailcoat, pinstripe trousers and a white shirt**,** for a photograph taken by Matt Porteous, a trusted portrait photographer hired regularly by the Wales family for milestone moments.
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Why It Matters
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 single-sex boys’ school 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.
What Prince George Can Expect from Eton
Kate shielded George from the rain with an umbrella as they walked through the schoolyard, one last act of motherhood before entrusting her son to the care of the world famous school.
George arrived dressed smartly from the family home, Forrest Lodge, in Windsor, and was introduced to the head teacher, Simon Henderson, and provost Sir Nicholas Coleridge. As they shook hands in front of broadcast cameras, Henderson told the teenager: "George, welcome, good luck and enjoy."
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Prince George will be entering a school steeped in centuries of tradition organized around a boarding-house system designed to create a close community.
Eton’s pupils are divided among 25 boarding houses, each overseen by a house master and pastoral staff. Houses effectively become a boy’s home within the wider school, shaping daily life, friendships and much of his sporting and extracurricular activity.
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With around 50 boys in each house, George will quickly become part of a smaller community within the around 1,300 pupil school.
He can also expect a number of longstanding Eton traditions. Boys wear the school’s famous tailcoat-style uniform, attend chapel, and encounter a distinctive vocabulary and customs that have evolved over centuries.
Harry described the culture shock in Spare: “Classes were no longer classes: they were divs. Teachers were beaks and cigarettes were tabbage…Chambers was the mid-morning meeting of the beaks, when they discussed the students, especially the problem students. I often felt my ears burning during Chambers.”
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Eton places considerable emphasis on independence, leadership and participation in sport, societies and cultural activities. Many of the school’s traditions have been adapted over time, but its strong sense of history remains a defining feature of daily life.
Prince William's First Day at Eton
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.
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Eton's History
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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