If Prince George is heading to Eton where will Charlotte go?

[Boxingdaymusings]

I know it's not been officially announced that George is going to Eton .. but if he is where will Charlotte go?

Eugenie has mentioned on her instagram that she has many happy memories of Marlborough.

It’s out of fashion because the vast majority of people can’t afford £60k a year. Ask most struggling middle class parents who don’t have a trillion ££ to move next door to an outstanding comp if they’d like Eton for free …

(Obviously a small proportion of boys do get to go on 100% bursaries. Their parents don’t give a fig for ‘fashion’!)

@TheOriginalFrench I meant with the 1 per cent or whatever that chose it at all. As uncomfortable as it might be, for the most part, if boarding is on the radar at all at a ‘top’ school the finances are not a major barrier amongst demographic that select NB: St Mary’s Ascot.

The fashions change quickly though. I distinctly remember a few years ago the rich in my office sent their kids to boarding schools precisely because they didn’t want to engage in the West London 11 plus tutoring rat race. Then some of the co-eds that were less hard to get in and seen as less “pushy” became fashionable. There is a distinct suspicion in some circles towards pushy parents so who knows what is fashionable right now. Kids going on screens at boarding schools is definitely out of fashion and there seems to now be a race to ban screen use and engage in real life.

Farnborough Hill - probably a bit downmarket for Charlotte though.

There are a couple of girls' private schools in Ascot aren't there? I think a colleague went to one of them and another colleague sent her daughter to one of them. Might have been St Mary's.

If she is academic there are some very high performing girls' schools in Guildford but that might be a bit too far away.

It's interesting - people always say they can't use state schools because of security but a lot of private schools have sprawling estates and it would be quite easy to get onto them if you had malign intent. For example Lord Wandsworth which is the Basingstoke/Fleet sort of area.

@Araminta1003 yes, my experience too. Leafy Gloucestershire (Marlborough) & country campus in favour & Benenden seems to be getting popular, away from London fleshpots & a bit further re: possible decamping at weekends than some. Ditto Oundle who I think had a lot of parental donations re: a new building fairly recently.

Is Oundle popular at the moment? It wasn't well-known when I was there I thought compared to other schools?

www.thetimes.com/article/0653e3a9-1434-4fbf-8434-9b2933d396bd?shareToken=d0d7c8ec88896564785fce9e802f8bfe

Giles Coren is right about the traffic in Highgate - it’s a nightmare. From memory, pupils at both Highgate and UCS have to leave the school itself to get to the playing fields.

Is he being sarcastic saying that two-thirds of kids in North London day schools are driven in limos? That's not the case at Highgate or UCS. While there are some ultra rich families, they are very few. Traffic is bad so many kids use buses or public transport. I'm sure it's the same situation in all inner London day schools. Highgate students move around sites that are all located next to each other. The school is extremely hard to get into, and he and his siblings have to sit an exam like everyone else (Highgate is notorious for its no siblings policy). I'm convinced he won't have an automatic pass, as there will be extra scrutiny and public pressure on the royal family and the school itself to ensure he passed in line with the guidelines and didn't use his royal status to get in.

I offer no suggestions. I just want Charlotte as with any child to be able to go to school in peace and not be disturbed by the press or anyone else.

I think Giles Coren is probably being funny (with a tiny element of truth - there are some very rich families at all the London day schools).

Downe House or Wycombe could make sense location and vibe-wise, though both v academic and remember Kate left Downe after a short burst there so I can’t really imagine her picking it for Charlotte.

Increasingly I think they will pick a new/ non-royal option that is Co-Ed/family oriented, relatively local and independent but not particularly high profile. That’s what they have done thus far for their children.

Agree.

Isn't it about time Eton went co-ed?

As every Eton pupil has their own room the school would either need more buildings or to decrease the number of boys to accommodate girls.

Ye I can't see it happening, cutting themsleves out of a market they perform extremely well in and reducing boys going there for girls.

I also feel, although am happy to be pushed back on this point, that the Eton ethos/style is not that girl friendly to bring them in, so there'd need to be quite a massive change in the way the school runs.

And I can't see Eton growing even bigger. 1300 is already enormous!

I thought it was dyed on the page they were going to Marlborough...

IIRC they did briefly find a way of incorporating girls to some limited extent (in school, not just as extra curricular entertainment) around the very late 70s / early 80s. Memory is hazy but an ex of mine was there then and sometimes used to reflect wistfully on the experience.

I think that’s a popular view but the reality is have you worked out what £60 thousand per annum is pre-tax? Then multiplied by the average of 2 or 3 children most families have? Then allowed for the fact they have other expenses on top of just school fees? The truth is many families at these schools are not getting salaries where those sorts of figures don’t make a huge impact. That’s not to say some people aren’t wealthy; but once you draw the cross-section of people with school age children who want independent education for them, it’s not a massive tranche of society- which is why these boarding schools are worrying, and why many families who might have once sent them are re-thinking.

I wonder how the royal boys feel at Eton when it is well known they are not top performers and the other boys compete very hard to get in with 1,300 applicants for 240 places and entrance based on exam performance.

Crack Sen run down secondary school in the armpit of England

I’m sure I read that Kate was bullied at Marlborough

I disagree with this - William and Harry were well known for not being the sharpest tool in the box yet they both got into Eton with 1,300 applicants for 240 places. Of course they got an automatic pass to get in.

I think these days there is more awareness of how these sorts of things can impact MH. I think Kate and William are quite astute about all that. A “ free pass” is no prize if it’s not a good fit placement.