Royal kids going to Lambrook

[Hettythechicken]

I wonder how things will change (if anything) for existing parents/staff. I don’t envy the teachers or Head - there must be so much more pressure with security and press intrusion. I don’t know Lambrook particularly well but I’m not surprised they’ve chosen it!
Would you be happy if royal children started at your children’s school?

There were royal children at my DS's school, and they were treated just like all the other boys. I think there's an initial five seconds of excitement and then they all get on with it.

I taught with someone who was at Thomas’ where George and Charlotte have been and she said one of the trickier parts is weeding out the prospective parents that are purely there in the hope of getting close to the royals.

@Hettythechicken One of my first thoughts was that people would have applied to the old school, in the hope that they would rub shoulders with the royal family, and now their plans have scuppered.

There’ll be some very excited Lambrook parents!

The Lambrook marketing dept must be delighted - their numbers certainly won’t be falling!

Just looked at their website out of curiosity and have to say I’ve never seen ‘Headmaster’s Wife’ listed on the staff pages of a school before plus name checked twice in the Headmaster’s Welcome…. “My wife and I would be delighted to meet with you” Presumably a different culture of school than I would be used to, maybe developing a family style approach but seems quite unusual at the same time!

I'd be concerned if my children were at the same school. Royals playacting at being "normal" when they're more than happy to sponge off the taxpayer the rest of the time, all it does is cause unnecessary security strain on other children/staff.

@SeptemberDreams I have taught in a few prep
boarding schools and there is often a Headmaster’s Wife job title. It’s so incredibly old fashioned and doesn’t always work too well, especially when they also have children who are pupils at the school.

Ironic given Kate’s parents sent her to Marlborough and then St Andrews specifically
to get into the royal circle.

I went to an independent boarding school and the headmasters wife was ACE! Chain smoking, gin swilling and she wore Poison so you could always smell her before you saw her! She had a smoking shed that she allowed access privileges to her favourite pupils, and those of us that used to help her on her garden open days used to get a meal and a piss up at their house the week afterwards. I suspect the role of headmasters wife has changed a bit in the last 25 years!

I was at boarding school with the then princess of Jordan, Haya, and her bodyguards were disguised as gardeners. We called them ‘lush’ and ‘lust’ and had fat crushes on them as there were no boys and we were desperate. She was so lovely, it makes me sad to see what an awful time she has had with her husband.

This made me laugh! It's never occurred to me that bodyguards would be disguised as school staff before

I love the idea that Kate Middleton and her parents knew where William wanted to go to university. No Royal had studied there before as far as I am aware. They might have had a mole at Eton of course…..,

Why do you think they wouldn't know, when it was announced where he was heading for university at the start of his gap year beforehand?

I don't actually buy the idea of the scheming Middletons, but this is a point that anyone could have known

Any socially aspiring middle class child looking to move up in to the upper middles would have Durham, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Exeter, Bristol on their list!! Suspect it was just chance.

As it happens I know someone who a few years ago was absolutely desperate to get their DC (same age as the Cambridges) into a school that everyone assumed Prince George would be going to, and managed it (with a lot of effort) only for the Cambridges not to be sent there after all.
However they have ended up with the last laugh because about 18 months ago they moved schools to Lambrook. Which is either spectacular inside intel or a very lucky coincidence for them!!

Re: headmaster.

Just googled him and he was my Religious Studies teacher from 1994-1996 in a large comprehensive.

He was an absolutely excellent teacher, I had no idea of his rather gilded background at the time (just looked at his linkedin).

He must have been earlyish 20s when he taught me (I remember him going on his honeymoon) I really, really, really rated him as a teacher.

I was in the same class as a Princess. She really struggled with the real world, with friendships and was bullied badly.

I searched old threads on here about Lambrook and everyone was super positive about it so maybe their research was swayed by MN….

Would Lambrook be posher & even more exclusive than Thomas's?

Yes because it is a boarding prep school with links to the established boarding schools at 13. Thomas's chain of preps also have links but they are essentially London day schools.

Exactly. Such a stupid myth. The royals didn't go to Marlborough either so that's rubbish.

My DC were in school with royalty (not British) there was some awkwardness in that the teachers did struggle with discipline and any time there need to be a class contribution, theirs was absurdly OTT.

Invited to a couple of amazing parties though.

I had actually never heard of Lambrook & it's rarely mentioned on here... Will the social demographic be similar to Thomas's? I would imagine Thomas's would have a cosmopolitan mix & alot of new money families etc.. Is Lambrook more traditional?

Yes more traditional because it has the boarding option.

Would Lambrook have been popular & oversubscribed before the Cambridges announced the kids would be attending? As I said I've barely heard of it & it's rarely mentioned on Mn..