Prince William and Princess Kate’s Eldest Child George Will Leave Family Home To Attend Same Boarding School as His Dad

Prince George, the eldest son of Prince William and Princess Kate, is set to follow in his father's footsteps come September, when he will leave the family home in order to attend the same prestigious British boarding school where his dad and his uncle, Prince Harry, both studied.

George, 12, will enroll at Eton College, an elite all-boys school that is located just a 10-minute drive from the family's Windsor home—and requires all of its students to be full-time boarders, meaning they reside on campus throughout the week and only return home for holidays and weekend trips.

The news was announced in an official statement shared by William's office on June 16, which read: "Kensington Palace can confirm that Prince George ⁠will attend Eton College from this September."

While the statement did not address whether or not George will board at the school, Eton does not typically accept day students who don't reside on campus, with the official website noting that the set-up enables the boys to "develop their closest friendships."

Both Harry, 41, and William were full-time boarders when they attended the school, which now charges $80,000 a year in fees.

The statement did, however, put an end to months of speculation about where George would matriculate from September, having completed his studies at Lambrook School, which only caters to students up to the age of 13. The prince's younger siblings, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, 8, also attend the co-ed prep school.

It had been suggested that William, 43, and Kate, 44, had been exploring a number of different options for their son's future education, including the Princess of Wales' alma mater, Marlborough College, which is co-ed and therefore would have allowed all three of their children to continue attending the same school.

However, many royal experts insisted that Eton was always the clear choice for George—calling attention to the very positive experiences that his father enjoyed while he was a student there.

In June 2000, when he was 18 and preparing to leave the school, William said during an interview that he had relished the opportunity to attend the school "as just another student," explaining that he appreciated that his royal status was never highlighted.

William is said to have paid regular visits to his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, on weekends—taking full advantage of the school's proximity to Windsor Castle in order to join the queen for tea on Sundays.

George will have the same opportunity to see plenty of his parents, who moved into a new Windsor home with their children at the end of 2025, a property that they reportedly view as their "forever" abode, where they plan to live even when William ascends to the throne.

However, the young prince will have plenty to keep him occupied at his new school, which offers an array of extra-curricular activities for students to enjoy beyond their studies.

Earlier this month, Harry opened up about his own experiences at the school, admitting that he had struggled with the "classroom work" required, but noting that Eton's impressive offering of sport helped to keep him on track.

"Sport held me together," he told TIME magazine. "I was one of those kids at school who did not enjoy classroom work. If it wasn't for the sports field, and the amount of sports that were on offer, there's no way I would have stayed in school."

Eton is one of the oldest schools in the U.K. and is home to around 1,350 students each year, all of whom live in one of 25 different boarding houses that are located on the picturesque campus.

It was founded by King Henry VI in 1440, when all students were taught solely in Latin—although Greek was "added to the curriculum in the early 17th century," the school's website states.

The school has certainly evolved in the centuries since then, although it still maintains several historic and very unique traditions, the most recognizable of which is perhaps the uniform that all students are supposed to wear, which consists of a black tailcoat, black pinstriped pants, a white collarless shirt with a detachable collar, and a waistcoat.

Eton also has its own unique vocabulary, which William previously said he struggled to adjust to initially—and which includes terms like "beak," which means "teacher," "div," which means "lesson," and "blocker," a phrase used to describe students who are members of a particular year group or "block."

In fact, the school has such a robust vernacular that it features an entire glossary of phrases on its website.

While Kensington Palace has not yet confirmed, it's likely that William and Kate are planning for their son to attend Eton until he turns 18, at which point speculation will no doubt be rife about which university he might attend—particularly given that his parents actually met while they were both students at St. Andrews in Scotland.

For now, however, George will have ample opportunity to spend time with his family before he heads off for his first term at boarding school, with his current school year set to end on Saturday, July 4—giving him around two months of vacation before he stars at Eton.

It's thought that Charlotte and Louis will continue to attend Lambrook, which is also located a short distance from the family's home, Forest Lodge, which they signed a 20-year lease for in July 2025.

Sources previously told the BBC that the royal couple hoped the move would give them a chance to start "a new chapter" after battling through Princess Kate's cancer diagnosis and treatment.

"Windsor has become their home. However, over the last few years while they have lived at Adelaide Cottage there have been some really difficult times," the insider said.

"Moving gives them an opportunity for a fresh start and a new chapter. It's an opportunity to leave some of the more unhappy memories behind."

Kate, who shares three children with William, announced that she had been diagnosed with an unspecified cancer in March 2024, revealing at the time that she was undergoing chemotherapy—although she declined to share any other details about her illness.

In January 2025, she then announced that she was in remission, before opening up about the "really difficult" process of going through treatment and recovery.

"You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism, through treatment," she said during a July event at Colchester Hospital. "Treatment's done, and it's like, 'I can crack on, get back to normal again,' but actually that phase afterwards is a really difficult time.

"You're not able to function normally at home as you were perhaps once used to."

When the Princess of Wales was diagnosed, she and William had been living in Adelaide Cottage with their children for two years, having relocated to the property on the grounds of Windsor Castle from Kensington Palace in London

It was said at the time that they had chosen to move from London to Windsor in a bid to enjoy more privacy, while also creating a more traditional lifestyle for their children to enjoy at home.

According to reports, William, Kate, and their children moved into their latest home shortly before the Christmas holiday, with the princess revealing in December that she had been busy creating "mood boards" for the family's festive decor.

The duo is said to have funded the move privately and are paying market rent for the dwelling, which underwent a $2 million renovation back in 2001, before being put on the rental market for $20,300 a month.

Recent estimates put the value of the property at around $21.6 million.