Have Prince William and Princess Kate given up on Eton?

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published 26 October 2023

There has been SO much talk about Prince William and Princess Kate possibly sending Prince George to Eton College lately that we kind of stopped wondering whether he would in fact attend his father's old school.

The latest development on this front is a bit of a curveball: the Princess of Wales was reportedly spotted visiting her own former haunt of Marlborough College in Wiltshire super recently, prompting royal watchers to infer that the Wales couple may actually be considering this school for 10-year-old George instead.

"Catherine was here the other day," a source told the Daily Mail (via People). "It’s been the talk of the school." You don't say!

Kate attended Marlborough herself between ages 14 and 18 and was reportedly very happy there. According to People, the school also counts Kate's siblings Pippa and James, and fellow royal Princess Eugenie, among its most famous pupils.

This would be quite a historic move for George, as Marlborough is a mixed school, whereas all of his male royal ancestors have attended boys-only schools (Gordonstoun, where both Prince Philip and King Charles were students, only became co-educational after Charles had left).

News of Kate's visit to Marlborough comes after she, William, and George visited Eton back in July. Since then, there have been many reports of years-long arguments between Kate and Will over sending George to Eton — with the Prince wanting his son to follow in his footsteps, and the Princess being very reluctant to allow the move.

"Kate thinks sending him to such a stuffy, upper-crust institution goes against all of their efforts to modernise the monarchy. Plus, she’ll miss George desperately," a source said recently. "She and William argued about it for years, but he has finally won."

This made it sound like the decision was made, but there is still time for the royal parents to change their mind, as both schools require pupils to be 13 in order to enrol. George currently goes to Lambrook School with his siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

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Iris Goldsztajn is a celebrity and royal news writer for Marie Claire. As a London-based freelance journalist, she writes about wellness, relationships, pop culture, beauty and more for the likes of InStyle, Women's Health, Bustle, Stylist and Red. Aside from her quasi-personal investment in celebs' comings and goings, Iris is especially interested in debunking diet culture and destigmatising mental health struggles. Previously, she was the associate editor for Her Campus, where she oversaw the style and beauty news sections, as well as producing gift guides, personal essays and celebrity interviews. There, she worked remotely from Los Angeles, after returning from a three-month stint as an editorial intern for Cosmopolitan.com in New York. As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles, she interned at goop and C California Style and served as Her Campus' national style and LGBTQ+ editor. Iris was born and raised in France by a French father and an English mother. Her Spotify Wrapped is riddled with country music and One Direction, and she can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.

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