Kate Middleton is reportedly 'heartbroken' over the decision for Prince George to follow in his father's footsteps and attend Eton College when he turns 13. Princess Catherine was reportedly bullied when she attended a same-sex boarding school and 'can't bear the thought' of that happening to George, a royal insider has claimed.
The prestigious Eton College has long been associated with the royals since Prince William and Prince Harry attended the school in the '90s. Therefore it appeared to be the natural choice for the eldest Wales child Prince George until rumours started to surface that his mother, Kate Middleton, wasn't too happy with the choice.
Prince George's future school has reportedly been a sticking point for the Prince and Princess of Wales, who are said to have 'argued about it for years'. For a while, it looked as if Prince George might attend Kate's former school - Marlborough College - after he and his parents were spotted on several occasions touring the school grounds recently.
Marlborough has a lot going for it. Not only is it situated in picturesque Wiltshire, just over an hour’s drive from the family's Adelaide Cottage home, but the mixed-sex school is known for its progressive ethos, with Malborough's Master Louise Moelwyn-Hughes writing on the school's website that 'individuality is encouraged and differences are celebrated'.
However, it looks like this alternative is now off the table, as Kate 'finally gave in' to the idea of Eton, according to a source (via In Touch Weekly). The source explained that while she's willing to honour the tradition of sending royals to Eton College, 'she’s still heartbroken' as 'she was horribly bullied at her first boarding school, and can’t bear the thought of George suffering through that'.
The source continued: "Kate long disagreed with her husband about sending him away, even though it’s tradition. 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. She and William argued about it for years, but he has finally won," before adding: "He [Prince George] wants to be just like his father."
Princess Catherine herself originally attended a same-sex school; an experience that reportedly left her withdrawn and lacking in confidence. Kate transferred from Downe House, an all-girls boarding school in Berkshire, to Malborough College in 1996, when she was 14 years old.
"Catherine arrived suddenly during the middle of the year," a fellow pupil told Rebecca English for the Daily Mail. "Apparently, she had been bullied very badly at her previous school and she certainly looked very thin and pale. She had very little confidence." The pupil then went on to say how Kate went on to 'bloom' at Malborough, finding her confidence again.
Princess Catherine isn't the only royal to have had some negative experiences during their school days. King Charles called his time at Gordonstoun, one of the UK's leading independent schools, 'absolute hell'. King Charles wrote in a letter to home in 1963 (via The Sun): "The people in my dormitory are foul. Goodness, they are horrid. I don’t know how anybody could be so foul."
In another letter, he recalled: "I hardly get any sleep in the House because I snore and I get hit on the head all the time. It’s absolute hell."
