The Truth About This Royal Family First For Prince William
Netflix's "The Crown" may not be entirely historically accurate, but it gave a pretty clear impression that Prince Charles did not enjoy going to boarding school. Like his father, Prince Philip, Charles was sent to Gordonstoun in northeast Scotland (via Vanity Fair). Much was made of his struggles there in the series, and even Charles himself referred to his stay there as a "prison sentence."
This wasn't the only educational tradition that Charles followed. As a young child, he was tutored in Buckingham Palace and then sent to Cheam School, an independent preparatory school in Hampshire that his father also attended (via The New York Times). But when it came time for Charles to send his children to school, their educational trajectory was entirely different.
When it was time for Prince William to attend preschool, Princess Diana wanted him to have as much of a normal childhood as possible. So in a royal first, William was sent to a nursery instead of being tutored in Buckingham Palace, kickstarting a new tradition within the royal family.
Princess Diana started a new royal academic tradition through Prince William
Thanks to Princess Diana's intervention, Prince William became the first heir to the British throne to step outside of being educated within Buckingham Palace. Following his time at Mrs. Mynors' Nursery School in west London, he studied at Wetherby Prep School (via Hello! Magazine) before attending Ludgrove boarding school in Wokingham, much to Diana's dismay. However, William would later reveal that his mother dealt with the situation by sending him "naughty letters."
As William revealed during the 2017 documentary "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy," she would regularly send him "the rudest cards you could imagine" with "very nice stuff" written inside while he was at school. "I didn't open it in case teachers or anyone else in the class had seen it," he said. "She was very informal and really enjoyed the laughter and the fun." Following his time at Ludgrove, William studied at Eton College (via Express).
William and Kate want their children to have a choice in their education
It would seem that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are following in Princess Diana's footsteps regarding their children's education. Like Prince William, Prince George started his academic life at Thomas's Battersea, a private school in south London (via The Sun). George's sister Princess Charlotte followed the same path, while their younger brother Prince Louis attended Willcocks Nursery School in Kensington (via Express).
The Cambridge children are all still young, but at 8 years old, George — who has quite the royal future ahead of him — is of the age where members of the royal family would usually attend boarding school (via Observer). But according to a royal source, William and Kate Middleton are waiting until he's "slightly older" and want to give him a choice.
"George going to school is a decision the Cambridges will make as a family," the source told Us Weekly. "They'd never force George to go unless he wants to and they feel it's right."