THERE’S no doubt it’s a big summer for Prince George. He’s just waved goodbye to his prep school, on Wednesday he celebrates his 13th birthday, and he’ll start a new chapter at Eton College in September.
It’s a huge transition for him – and one that is pivotal to his preparation as future King.
Prince George is preparing to step out into the more adult world of senior school Credit: Instagram/Josh Shinner
George ‘hasn’t faced up to the enormity of his future, but he does take his position seriously’, revealed a family friend Credit: Getty Images
Yet all that couldn’t be further from his mind. A family friend tells me: “He may be as tall as his mum, but George is quite a self-conscious and awkward teen.
“He’s not an extrovert or a show-off. In fact, he’s quite a sensitive soul who’s very into conservation, like his father and grandfather, and music.
“Behind closed doors, he’s like any other teen, but in public he takes it all very seriously.”
There will be a birthday party to celebrate both becoming a teenager and the end of his time at Lambrook School.
The Prince and Princess are known to take a very hands-on approach at parties – fellow parents have been gently amused to see them organising games of rounders and cricket themselves, instead of leaving it to the nannies and retreating inside with a glass of wine.
Football-mad George (who supports Aston Villa, like his father) has no doubt enjoyed the FIFA World Cup matches, and previous birthday parties have been football-themed.
But this is a new era for the young Prince, and his party signifies a growing maturity with a group of close friends – some of whom will attend Eton with him.
As for presents, there’ll possibly be the new Villa strip, a guitar or hockey stick, given he takes after his mum by being fairly ferocious on the hockey pitch.
However, his parents have always been quite low-key with Christmas and birthdays, preferring their children to value sustainability and family time over the bloated consumerism of the latest must-have gadgets.
After George’s birthday, a holiday of outdoor pursuits, such as sailing, swimming and picnics at Anmer Hall – the family’s country retreat on the Norfolk coast – beckons. It will be his last summer of childhood, as he prepares to step out into the more adult world of senior school.
The family friend says: “George is very aware of who he is, and that has made him extremely cautious with friendships. You have to feel for him really, it’s a very difficult thing to know you will be the future King of England. He hasn’t faced up to the enormity of his future, but he does take his position seriously.”
Indeed, his parents have tried to protect him to such an extent that, for a long time, he did not know his destiny.
George will have a birthday party to celebrate both becoming a teenager and the end of his time at Lambrook School Credit: Matt Porteous
Kate and William are known to be very hands-on parents Credit: Unknown
When he had pictures taken with the late Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William for a stamp set in 2016 to commemorate Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday, and again to mark a new decade in 2020, the young George was simply told the photos were for “Gan-Gan’s bedside table”.
Waving from the Buckingham Palace balcony to the people packed into the Mall for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, that was to thank everyone for marking her birthday, explained his parents.
Royal biographer Ingrid Seward says: “Leaving his prep school was a wrench, but one of the reasons George wants to go to Eton is because several of his friends are going.
“William was a little reticent, as he didn’t want to appear elitist, but George has been protected for much of his childhood.
“That can continue at Eton from a security point of view, which is now more important than ever.
“Going there also allows him to still be close to his family – it will be the first time he’s been apart from them, particularly his siblings.
“But he’ll still be able to spend time with his grandfather at Windsor, in the same way that William did with Queen Elizabeth, to have first-hand experience of what it’s really like to be King.”
George will be attending Eton College but return home on set weekends Credit: UK Press via Getty Images
George puts his fists in the air as he and William celebrate an Aston Villa goal against Paris Saint-Germain at the UEFA Champions League quarter-final Credit: Getty Images
For some, the choice of Eton College, where George will board but return home on set weekends, was distinctly unimaginative. After all, this is a school that has educated the future elite – including 20 Prime Ministers (and Princes William and Harry) – for centuries.
A rather pithy line in the The Good Schools’ Guide says it is “a school so good, that many people choose it despite its name, not because of it.”
So it was for the Prince and Princess, who were spotted visiting numerous schools over the last few years, and have weighed up everything from sports teams to mobile-phone policies and pastoral care before reaching a decision.
When George starts in September, his parents will be hoping he makes a similar discreet, loyal band of friends they themselves made at boarding school, and still count on today.
The timing of the announcement earlier this month was entirely up to the Prince and Princess. Although the decision had been made some time ago, they wanted to wait until George had sat his final entrance exams and deter any last-minute applications from royal hangers-on.
One of the deciding factors was that Eton is an all-boys school. In a world of smartphones and social media, the absence of girls gives any nascent teenage angst a little more protection.
Another factor was the closeness to the family home of Forest Lodge, set in the grounds of Windsor Great Park.
Ingrid continues: “I’m sure it will be a wrench for his parents, and probably Charlotte and Louis. But they’ve done a wonderful job of providing a secure and incredibly supportive family unit, which has set up all three children well.
At this year’s Trooping the Colour, Kate and the children were booed as they rode to and from Buckingham Palace Credit: Getty
George and Charlotte accompanied mum Kate to Wimbledon this year Credit: Getty
“It’s been extremely different from William’s childhood, which was punctuated by the catastrophic breakdown of his parents’ relationship and all the distress that entailed.”
It’s to Kate and William’s credit that they’ve managed to keep their children out of the public eye to such an extent that they enjoy a huge amount of privacy.
Partly influenced by Kate’s work on early childhood, as well as William’s trauma over the painful and chaotic disintegration of his parents’ marriage and his mother’s death when he was 15, the couple have protected their three children fiercely.
After George’s birth, they thought a huge amount about how to manage the public interest in their children.
Through the use of expensive lawyers clamping down on any unauthorised pictures, direct appeals to fellow parents not to take photos of their children, and support from the mainstream media, you will never see a candid shot of them.
In return, the Wales family release occasional official family photographs of George, Charlotte and Louis to ensure their privacy is protected and to thank the public for their support.
One photo, no doubt taken by the Princess, will likely be released to celebrate George’s birthday on Wednesday.
It has meant that George, Charlotte, 11, and Louis, eight, have enjoyed a relatively normal childhood – as much as it can be normal when you’re part of the royal family.
Kate and William have managed to keep their children out of the public eye to such an extent that they enjoy a huge amount of privacy Credit: Shutterstock
Dressed in his jim-jams and dressing gown, Prince George makes the acquaintance of President Barack Obama at Kensington Palace Credit: Getty Images
They compete in their school sports teams (George is apparently a talented swimmer and football player, and competes in triathlons at national level), perform in end-of-year drama shows and are treated the same as other pupils.
Eagle-eyed royalists may be able to spot the back of one of the royal children in an outdoor lesson, meeting the Lambrook school tortoise Larry, or competing in skiing competitions on their school’s website (ski goggles and helmets are useful disguises).
But in the main, their Berkshire prep school has given them an anonymous and extremely privileged education.
Prince William recently revealed that George had started boarding there a couple of times a week to prepare him for full-time boarding at Eton, and it was an emotional day earlier this month when the school term finished for the last time.
George, accompanied by his parents, attended his last Speech Day, where sports awards and academic prizes were handed out to those leaving.
He also had his first black-tie occasion – one of many as a future working royal – with his school’s leavers’ ball.
When the family are at home, the Prince and Princess have protected their children by not giving them mobile phones.
“We sit and chat. It’s really important,” Prince William told actor Eugene Levy about dinner time in the Wales family home, during one of their discussions for his TV show, The Reluctant Traveller.
“None of our children have phones, which we’re very strict about.”When asked what the kids played with instead, he responded: “Louis loves the trampoline. He’s obsessed with trampolining and, actually, Charlotte does a lot as well. . .
“As far as I can tell, they just end up jumping up and down on the trampoline, beating each other up most of the time. Apparently, there is an art to it!”
That’s not to say that the children are protected from every challenge.
At this year’s Trooping the Colour, Kate and the children were booed as they rode to and from Buckingham Palace in a horse-drawn landau carriage.
The then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are all smiles with newborn Prince George on their first public appearance together, leaving London’s St Mary’s Hospital Credit: Getty Images
The pressure group Republic noisily protests at most royal occasions, and their yellow placards stating “Not My King” are now a familiar sight.
The group were mandated by the Metropolitan Police to stand in a certain contained area of the Mall, and it was notable that the Princess of Wales fixed the group with an icy stare as she passed.
She is more steely than appearances may suggest, and certainly will have been less than pleased that her young children were subjected to that, freedom of expression notwithstanding.
And of course, all three children have been challenged with dealing with their mother’s cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy treatment and recovery.
Opening up to a Brazilian journalist last autumn, Prince William said: “We choose to communicate a lot more with our children. . .
“Every family has its own difficulties and its own challenges. It’s very individual and sort of moment-dependent as to how you deal with those problems.”
Prioritising emotions has always been important for both William and Kate – although he admitted it hadn’t been easy.
“Sometimes, you feel that you’re oversharing with the children,” he said. “But, most of the time, hiding stuff from them doesn’t work, and so explaining how they feel, why that’s happening, giving them other viewpoints as to why they might be feeling like they are, sometimes helps give them a bigger picture.
“There’s no manual for being a parent, you’ve just got to go with it.”
The children have slowly been introduced to public duties, too.
George accompanied his parents to a Buckingham Palace tea party last year honouring WW2 veterans for VE Day, and in December he went with his father to The Passage homeless shelter to cook and serve a special Christmas Day meal for residents.
Last month, he accompanied his mother on an official visit for the first time, to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, to mark Armed Forces Day and inspect the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
Sitting in the cockpit of two fighter planes – a modern one and a historic Spitfire – the future head of the Armed Forces looked at home. In fact, George has been taking private flying lessons and is known to be a keen aviation enthusiast.
His parents will gradually do more public events with him, while being mindful of protecting him as much as possible. Balancing family with The Firm is no mean feat, but the Prince and Princess have prioritised their children above everything and know the pressure is a lot to handle.
This year’s Trooping the Colour – with George stifling a sneeze mid-national anthem on the Buckingham Palace balcony – points to a new era in public and private as he finds his royal feet.
