Kate Middleton and Prince William trying to fit in at school gates – but there’s one big issue

Traditionally, Royal children have either been home-schooled or, as was the case for King Charles III and his two sons, sent to boarding school once they were old enough to tie their own shoelaces. Charles was dispatched to Cheam School in Berkshire at the tender age of eight, making him the first heir to the throne to attend a “civilian” school, while Prince William and his brother Harry both attended Ludgrove School, also in Berkshire, from the same age, reports OK!.

However, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a different vision for their own children’s education, opting to send Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine, and Prince Louis, six, initially to Thomas’s school in Battersea, London. Then, following the family’s move to Adelaide Cottage, they switched to Berkshire independent preparatory school Lambrook in 2022, as reports OK!.

The co-educational school, nestled in 52 acres of beautiful grounds near Ascot, Berkshire, is a mere 15-minute drive from their Windsor residence and features a cricket ground, football and rugby pitches, a golf course and a £6m art and design building – fittingly named the Queen’s Building. The combined fees for all three children are rumoured to exceed £55,000 annually.

The decision to enrol the Royal children at Lambrook marks a significant departure from the traditional, single-sex boarding schools attended by previous generations of royals. Despite its strong focus on academic achievement, the school offers an impressive range of extracurricular activities, including beekeeping, horse riding, and caring for the school’s resident hens and pigs.

This would undoubtedly have appealed to Prince William, a known conservation enthusiast, who once commented that it’s “so important to get outside and have the children understand nature”. Photos of the couple dropping off their children at the start of the new term in September 2022 delighted Royal enthusiasts, with the family appearing extremely happy as they walked hand-in-hand through the school grounds during a “settling-in” afternoon.

In a statement released on 14 June, ahead of her triumphant appearance at this year’s Trooping the Colour, Kate revealed that even while undergoing cancer treatment, she cherished being involved in her children’s education. “On the days I feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life,” she expressed. William and Kate are down-to-earth parents at Lambrook events; they even joined other parents in a queue for a tombola at a charity event earlier this year.