Prince George Starts at Eton College, Following His Father's Footsteps Into Britain's Most Famous Classroom

He arrived in the pouring rain, walked ahead of his parents, and greeted his new headmaster with a firm handshake. In almost every way, Prince George's first day at Eton College on Tuesday felt like a coming-of-age moment — and a quietly historic one at that.

The 13-year-old future king, second in line to the British throne, was dropped off at the renowned Berkshire boarding school by his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, beginning the next stage of an education that has already been watched with enormous public interest.

Those who remembered a small, shy boy clinging to his father's hand on his first day at Thomas's Battersea primary school in 2017 would have noticed quite a transformation. Prince George walked confidently between his parents through Lupton's Tower — the school's 16th-century gatehouse — across the cobblestone school yard, and paused at the bronze statue of Henry VI, the monarch who founded Eton in 1440.

Headmaster Simon Henderson and provost Sir Nicholas Coleridge were on hand to welcome the young prince. Both men gave slight bows of the head to the Prince and Princess of Wales, while Henderson offered his new pupil an encouraging send-off.

The Princess of Wales placed a supportive hand on her son's back as the family were shown into the fourth form passage in the original school building, believed to house the world's oldest classroom.

Prince George will board at the same house his father once lived in. The Prince of Wales attended Eton from 1995, with his arrival — photographed publicly alongside his then-parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and his younger brother Harry — marking a notable break from royal tradition at the time. It had widely been expected that William would attend Gordonstoun in Scotland, the school of both his father, King Charles, and his grandfather, the late Prince Philip.

Prince Harry followed his brother to Eton three years later, in 1998. Now Prince George completes a remarkable hat-trick for the Wales family at one of Britain's most storied institutions.

Speculation over George's future school had swirled for years. Some royal watchers had predicted he might choose Marlborough College, the school attended by his mother, Princess Catherine. Reports in 2023 suggested William and Catherine had taken their eldest son on a tour of the Eton campus, though no official announcement was made at the time.

Like all first-year pupils — known collectively at Eton as "F Block" — Prince George will have his own bedroom in his boarding house. The school, which educates boys aged 13 to 18 and takes around 270 new students each academic year, charges annual fees of £63,298 and maintains a rigorous admissions process including stringent academic tests.

Beyond academic and sporting life, Eton has a long reputation for instilling self-reliance and leadership — qualities that will doubtless serve a future king well. Its alumni list is extraordinary: 20 British prime ministers have passed through its gates, including Lord David Cameron and Boris Johnson. Actors Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston and Eddie Redmayne are Old Etonians, as are writers George Orwell and Ian Fleming, and adventurer Bear Grylls.

Before his move to Eton, Prince George attended Lambrook School in Berkshire, where he was joined by his siblings Princess Charlotte, 11, and eight-year-old Prince Louis. Charlotte and Louis are expected to remain at Lambrook for the time being.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have made clear they hope their son will be afforded the same privacy during his Eton years that his father and uncle were given during theirs. Signs have already been posted around Windsor asking members of the public not to photograph pupils as they move around the school campus between lessons.

It is a hope shared by many — that behind the historic gates of Eton, a boy can simply be a boy, even if that boy happens to be a future king.