Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis Are Back to School — All About Their Lives as Students
Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Princess Charlotte, Kate Middleton, Prince George and Prince William
Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are back to school after winter break.
St. Thomas's Battersea, the $30,000-per year private school near Kensington Palace in London where 8-year-old George and 6-year-old Charlotte are enrolled, kicked off their Lent term on Tuesday following a break for the holidays. Prince Louis, 3, currently attends Willcocks Nursery School, which also saw students return to the classroom this week.
Despite their royal status, the children are just normal students. Prince William and Kate Middleton have always made a point of treating school as a private area so that their children can grow up in as pressure-free an atmosphere as possible. In addition, the former headmaster at Thomas's Battersea previously told reporters that when it came to Queen Elizabeth's great-grandchildren, "there won't be any special treatment at all."
George, Charlotte and Louis also don't use their titles at school. While the royal family's last name is technically Mountbatten-Windsor, the kids use the last name Cambridge, referring to their parents' titles as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
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Prince George is in Year 4, where he'll tackle core subjects such as math, English, science, history and geography. He'll also be taught by specialist teachers in the subjects of French, religious studies, computing, art/design, technology, music, drama, P.E. — and even ballet, which he has been enjoying for the past couple of years.
Starting last year, there were more opportunities for George to join after-school clubs and activities. He could choose to join the school's Phoenix Choir for Years 3 and 4, "who perform a wide range of repertoire from classical to pop."
Middle School age boys also participate in soccer, which George has already become a huge fan of thanks to dad William. All students from Year 3 to Year 8 prepare for an annual cross-country run, and Years 3 to 6 can join the swimming club, so there will be plenty of outdoor activities to keep George busy. Since Kate is a big proponent of how being in the outdoors promotes mental and emotional wellbeing in kids, she'll be pleased!
Many students also start learning a musical instrument by Year 3. We already know George has a musical ear as he's been taking guitar lessons.
Princess Charlotte started Year 2 in September, where she learned the same core subjects as George and the extras like music and ballet. The young royal already loves to take dance classes, and her school has a large ballet room with a live pianist. Kate, who often does arts and crafts with her kids, will be happy to know the school has to large and art studios, including a pottery room. There's also a fine hall for drama productions that the little scene-stealer can look forward to stepping into one day.
To celebrate his third birthday last April, Kate and Prince William shared a photo of Prince Louis before he left for his first day of preschool, grinning ear-to-ear while posing on his red bike and carrying his backpack — clearly he's excited to be one of the big kids who gets to go to school!
Some of the student activities on the website for Willcocks Nursery School include cooking, poetry, band, singing, nature, jigsaws, acting...and of course, a break for "loo time" and a snack.
Like families around the world, the Cambridge clan had to adjust to remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic. Kate revealed that it was a challenge to get George excited about his own schoolwork when he had Charlotte's "cooler" assignments as a comparison in another interview on ITV's This Morning.
"We're stuck into homeschooling again," Kate said. "George gets very upset because he just wants to do all of Charlotte's projects. Spider sandwiches are far cooler than literacy work!"
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Kate revealed in a different interview with the BBC that they even continued homeschooling their children over Easter break.
"Don't tell the children, we've actually kept it going through the holidays," Kate said. "I feel very mean!"
"The children have got such stamina, I don't know how," the royal mom added. "Honestly, you get to the end of the day and you write down the list of all the things that you've done in that day. So, you pitch a tent, take the tent down again, cook, bake. You get to the end of the day — they have had a lovely time — but it is amazing how much you can cram into one day, that's for sure."
