Starting school is daunting for any child – let alone when you have to face a bank of photographers and journalists on your very first morning!
Nerves and excitement were high at Kensington Palace last week, with four-year-old Prince George starting lessons at Thomas’s Battersea in south-west London on Thursday. But the little royal won’t be braving the prep school by himself.
George’s new private day school is co-ed where the first rule is to “be kind”.
Maud Windsor (4), the daughter of Lord Frederick Windsor (38), the only son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and 46th in line to the throne, will also be starting at the esteemed school on the same day.
The two young royals have met, reveals Maud’s mother, actress Sophie Winkleman (37).
“Maud and George get along very well,” she says. “He’s a clever, articulate little boy and was speaking long before other toddlers his age.”
Prince William dropped off George to his first day at school without wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Duchess Catherine, who is pregnant with the couple’s third child, is suffering from extreme morning sickness and is being taken care of at Kensington Palace.
Prince William and George were met by the Head of the Lower School, Helen Haslem, who escorted the prince to his classroom.
Prince William later said George’s first day of school went well and the young prince was well-behaved.
Thomas’s Battersea is described as one of the best learning establishments in London – The Good Schools’ Guide calling it “a big, busy, slightly chaotic school for cosmopolitan parents who want their children to have the best English education money can buy”.
Diversity is also guaranteed, with students at the school speaking a total of 19 languages at home, so William and Kate’s wish for George to experience a normal childhood and education looks to be all but granted.
Though, with fees for the school starting at an eye-watering $31,000 a year, we guess there’s no such thing as a truly normal upbringing when you’re a royal!
