Prince George starts first day at £17,600-a-year school, but pregnant mum Kate too ill to go
Prince George of Cambridge will be known as George Cambridge to his classmates
Britain’s Prince George, the great-grandson of Queen Elizabeth and third-in-line to the throne, started school on Thursday but without his pregnant mother Kate to support him because she is suffering from severe morning sickness.
George, 4, was taken by his father, Prince William, from their Kensington Palace home to Thomas’s Battersea school in southwest London, which says its most important rule is to “Be Kind” and charges almost 18,000 pounds (US$23,490) per pupil per year.
“We expect our pupils to make impressive progress as a result of their own hard work, the best efforts of their teachers, the judicious support of their parents and the encouragement of their peers,” the school says on its website.
A nervous-looking George, wearing a school uniform of dark shorts and a navy jumper with red trim, held his father’s hand as the Head of Lower School, Helen Haslem, escorted the royal duo to his classroom.
Along with maths, English and science, the curriculum includes classes in “understanding the world”, “expressive arts and design” and “communication and language”. Art, ballet, drama, French, music, and physical education are all taught from day one.
Like his parents, George and his younger sister Charlotte have already appeared on the front covers of magazines around the world and this summer they travelled on official royal tours of Poland and Germany where crowds cheered them.
Additional reporting by The Guardian
