Prince George has marked a major milestone, arriving at Eton College for his first day alongside his beaming parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
For the young royal, it was a moment that carried both public significance and private emotion: the future king stepping into one of Britain’s most famous schools, while also looking every bit the apprehensive 13-year-old beginning an exciting new stage.
Second in line to the throne, George was dressed smartly for the occasion in a shirt and tie, dark blazer, chinos and brown suede shoes. Braving a downpour, he walked quickly with William and Catherine through Eton College’s historic quadrangle, known by students as School Yard.
The family appeared beneath the arch of Lupton’s Tower, the school’s 16th-century gatehouse and clock tower, before crossing the rain-slicked cobbles of the Yard.
Near the bronze statue of Henry VI, Eton’s founder, which stands at the heart of the quadrangle, the Wales family stopped to greet headmaster Simon Henderson and Sir Nicholas Coleridge, the school’s provost and chair of its governing body.
Prince William chose a polished dark suit for the school arrival, while Catherine looked poised in a flowing green dress and heels, shielding herself from the rain with a large umbrella.
William stepped forward first to shake the headmaster’s hand, followed by George, as the Princess of Wales remained slightly behind them.
Prince George arrives at Eton College today with Prince William and Catherine for his first day at the school
Prince William shakes hands with provost Sir Nicholas Coleridge, left, and headmaster Simon Henderson on Prince George’s first day of school
The trio strode through Eton College’s historic School Yard quadrangle in the heavy rain
William is greeted by Sir Nicholas, the school’s provost and governing body chair
‘George welcome, good luck, enjoy,’ Mr Henderson smiled.
He then shook hands with Catherine before the provost introduced himself and they exchanged a few pleasantries.
While there were clearly nerves on both sides, there were also smiles all round – although the heavy rain drowned out the sound of their conversation.
Catherine gazed at her eldest son proudly before Mr Henderson invited the family to get out of the rain.
The princess was seen placing a protective arm on her son’s back as the door was shut behind them.
The Yard is the oldest part of the school alongside College Chapel, where pupils attend services three times a week.
After the welcome, George, William and Catherine were shown into the fourth-form passage in the original school building, which is understood to house the world’s oldest classroom.
Like other families, the couple will help George settle into his new bedroom. Pupils from other years will return to Eton when the school starts tomorrow.
Following the brief photocall and the picture release, it is William and Catherine’s fervent wish that George’s education will take place away from public view.
Signs have been posted around Windsor warning the public not to photograph the pupils when they are moving around the sprawling campus of school buildings between lessons.
Kensington Palace announced in June that their eldest child would be attending the Windsor boarding school where fees cost more than £65,000 per year.
William struggles to close his umbrella as he and Catherine accompany George to Eton today
Catherine and William laugh with George, the second in line to the thone, as they arrive
All new pupils arrive in their own clothes before changing into Eton’s distinctive and historic uniform including black tailcoat, waistcoat and white tunic shirt.
It seems hard to believe that the self-assured young man in front of us was, only a few years ago, being introduced to the world by William and Catherine on the steps of the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington – or pictured tousle-haired, his back-pack almost as big as him, on his first day at nursery.
The photocall had been arranged for 11am, half an hour or so before the rest of his fellow ‘F Blockers’ – Eton shorthand for Year 9 students – arrived.
It is the only time during the next five years George is likely to get any special treatment, and the decision was more about protecting the privacy of the other students.
All new pupils arrive in their own clothes before changing into Eton’s distinctive and historic uniform including black tailcoat, waistcoat and white tunic shirt.
Kensington Palace are set to release a photograph of that separately.
The prince and princess have made clear how grateful they are for the way the media and public have allowed all their three children to grow up and enjoy their education away from the spotlight, in return for regular pictorial updates and occasional public appearances, and hope this will continue for George as he moves through his senior school years.
Henry VI established the school in 1440, naming it ‘Kynge’s College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore’.
Alongside fee-paying students, provision was made for 70 ‘King’s scholars’ to receive free lodging and tuition. The tradition continues today with the school offering bursaries to pupils from less well-off backgrounds.
The young prince’s arrival at the exclusive public school varied markedly from his father’s first day on September 6, 1995.
Then, William, sporting a grey tweed jacket over matching smart trousers and a navy patterned tie, was photographed arriving at his boarding house in front of a large group of the world’s media and signing the register.
Prince George starts his first day of school at Thomas’s Battersea in London in September 2017
He was accompanied by his parents Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, who had by then been separated for three years, along with his younger brother, Prince Harry.
Only a small royal photographer rota captured such an historic moment in the now heir to the throne’s life.
Times change and, as royal aides now argue, it’s stressful enough joining a new school without doing it under the glare of hundreds of cameras.
Eton was always the front runner for William and Catherine when it came to choosing a senior school for their eldest child, but by no means a done deal.
The couple have been spotted checking out a number of boarding schools across the county, including Oundle in Northamptonshire and the princess’s own alma mater, Marlborough – although sources have indicated that the latter has always been a more likely choice for their daughter, Princess Charlotte.
What swung it was Eton’s proximity to the family’s ‘forever home’ at Windsor, Forest Lodge; the fact that the college has long experience of dealing with the complexities around high-profile students; and, of course, George’s own preference.
He is likely to be joined by a number of friends from Lambrook, the co-educational prep school in Berkshire he has attended with his siblings in recent years.
It also helps that William has genuinely fond memories of his own time there.
In an interview to mark his 18th birthday and imminent graduation from Eton, the heir spoke of how he had enjoyed attending Eton as ‘just another student’ and even admitted he’d ‘always liked the uniform’.
He also spoke of how much he had appreciated the support of staff such as his housemaster, Dr Gailey.
Ironically, given how synonymous Eton has become with royalty, it was something of a departure for William to even be sent there.
For centuries, generations of monarchs and their heirs were taught by tutors and had little experience of learning alongside their peers.
Princess Diana and Charles with William and Harry outside Eton on William’s first day in 1995
However both William’s grandfather and uncle on the Spencer side of the family had attended the school, while his mother also preferred its proximity to Windsor and London.
Charles was also known to have had a less than happy time at his own Scottish alma mater, Gordonstoun – although other members of the Royal Family subsequently went there and adored it – and was content with the choice.
It also enabled William to spend time with his beloved grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, and he still fondly talks of being able to regularly wander over to Windsor Castle to seek tea and sage advice.
William and Catherine have also gone on to break with tradition when it comes to their own children’s education.
George first attended a little £5.50-an-hour Montessori nursery school, Westacre near King’s Lynn in Norfolk, when his parents were based there while William was working as a pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance Service.
When the family moved back to Kensington Palace in 2017, George and Charlotte were enrolled at Thomas’s Battersea – a very popular but not overly posh private London prep school.
In 2022, all three youngsters moved to Lambrook, a delightful but low-key day and boarding school in Berkshire, where George has regularly stayed overnight in preparation for Eton.
He is said to be a hugely outdoorsy, sporty boy, who has shown a talent for triathlon and sailing – and is obsessed by flying.
His time at Eton will, hopefully, be among the happiest years of his life, allow him to develop away from the spotlight and develop a tight-knit circle of friends that will support him for many decades to come.
The college was founded in 1440 as a charity feeder school to provide free education for 70 poor boys before they progressed to King’s College, Cambridge.
Prince Harry sets off for his first day at Eton in 1998. He attended the school until 2003
It has since become one of the most lauded public schools in the world, educating generations of British and foreign aristocracy and, in recent years, home-grown monarchy.
Former alumni include no less than 20 former British prime ministers, writers George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and Ian Fleming, as well as actors Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston and Damian Lewis.
Recent decades have seen a concerted effort to open up benefits of an Eton education to pupils from a more diverse background, with around 20 per cent on bursaries or scholarships.
The Good Schools Guide says it is an establishment that is chosen by people ‘despite its name, not because of it’ and insists: ‘Eton’s got normal families and normal children doing great things.’
Its fees remain, however, an eye-watering £65,000-plus a year and there is an enviable 7:1 pupil to teacher ratio.
And it is also still renowned for its traditions including the classic uniform of a black tailcoat (£165) with matching trousers (£65), waistcoat (£50) and white tunic shirt (£22).
Facilities remain first class with superlative music, drama and sports departments. As well as rugby and football, the school still boasts unique traditions such the ‘Eton wall game’.
All boarders have private rooms from their first day in one of 25 distinctive boarding houses run by the house master and dame.
Kensington Palace have broken recent tradition and chosen not to share the name of George’s house.
Teachers are known officially as masters, but colloquially as ‘beaks’.
The Waleses – who famously admit they have refused to give their children mobile phones – will no doubt be delighted with the school’s phone policy: just a Nokia brick phone for boys such as George in Year 9 with very limited use.
