Parents at Prince William’s children’s new school are anxious that the attendence of the royals could alter the prep’s “vibe”.
Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four, have joined the co-educational private Lambrook School near Ascot in Berkshire after the family moved from London to Windsor and took part in a welcome session on Wednesday 7 September before beginning their first full day on Thursday.
It is estimated that fees for Lambrook School, which sits on 52 acres of ground, will set the prince and Kate Middleton back more than £50,000 per year.
But the prospect of bolstered security presence at the school has left a number of parents of pupils “p***ed off,” reports The Sunday Mirror.
“They’re worried the feel and atmosphere of the school will change with all the security. Many of us worry things like the carol service will now become more formal and won’t be the sweet, laid-back affair they usually are,” one mother told the newspaper.
George and Charlotte previously attended Thomas’s Battersea in southwest London, where it is understood they were furnished with “discreet protection from armed royal officers.”
In July 2020, an Isis supporter who called for attacks on targets including George’s primary was jailed for life.
A second incident in 2017 caused a major security scare after a woman reveaed she was able to walk in after the gate and a main entrance door were left ajar.
The mother continued: “Parents are picturing armed police in trees and in the corridors – they don’t want their kids witnessing it.
“There are no electric gates, but that may change with the royal kids coming. It’ll no longer be so easy to come and go.
“It’s certainly not the same school and vibe we signed the kids up for, and most parents I’ve spoken to feel the same.”
In a statement confirming the move on 22 August, Kensington Palace said: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have today announced that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will attend Lambrook School in Berkshire from September 2022.
“Their Royal Highnesses are hugely grateful to Thomas’s Battersea where George and Charlotte have had a happy start to their education since 2017 and 2019 respectively and are pleased to have found a school for all three of their children which shares a similar ethos and values to Thomas’s.”
It also confirmed that the family would move to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor’s Home Park in time for the new school term.
