PRINCE George has been pictured arriving at his new school Eton College today with his parents Kate and Wills by his side.
The 13-year-old future King is following in the footsteps of his dad and uncle Harry, becoming a boarder at the 586-year-old school.
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He is dressed in casual clothes and was greeted at 10.30am by Eton headmaster Simon Henderson.
The £65,000-a-year school has educated 20 British Prime Ministers.
Dressed in “home clothes” – in George’s case a smart dark blazer, shirt, tie and chinos with brown suede shoes – he emerged from the arch beneath Lupton’s Tower, the 16th Century gatehouse clock tower, and walked across the cobbled school yard, which is flanked by the chapel.
The Wales family paused level with a bronze statue of Henry VI, the school’s founder, which sits in the centre of the quadrangle, to shake hands with Simon Henderson, the head master of Eton College, and Sir Nicholas Coleridge, the school’s Provost, who serves as the chair of the governing body.
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“Welcome,” Henderson told him. “Good luck. Enjoy it.”
William, in a matching outfit to his son, carried a closed umbrella while Kate, wearing a green dress, held one aloft against the seasonal back-to-school drizzle.
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The yard is the oldest part of the school alongside College chapel where pupils attend services three times a week.
William appeared to make a joke about the weather, with Sir Nicholas replying: “Typical.”
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The Prince of Wales was heard to say. “If it rains, it rains for ages.”
After the welcome George, William and Kate were shown into the fourth form passage in the original school building, which is understood to house the world’s oldest classroom.
Kate was seen placing a protective arm on her son’s back as the door was shut behind them.
Other first year pupils – known collectively as signs to “F Block” – where the first year students will stay.
Like other families, Kate and William will help George settle into his new bedroom.
Pupils from other years will return to Eton College when the school starts on Wednesday.
Both William and Prince Harry attended the prestigious college as teenagers.
Wills regularly left Eton for afternoon tea in Windsor Castle with the late Queen.
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There had been some speculation around which school George would attend after he finished at an independent prep school in Berkshire.
However, a traditional option was chosen with the young royal attending Eton, which is not far from his family home in Windsor.
He was spotted meeting staff at the prestigious school with his parents two summers ago.
But parents Kate and Wills have previously been seen visiting other schools such as Oundle School and Marlborough College, where Kate attended school.
Eton’s roll call of famous past pupils includes actors Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Eddie Redmayne, Lord David Cameron, writers George Orwell and Ian Fleming, and adventurer Bear Grylls.
Eton College was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI and annual fees next year will cost Kate and Wills up to £63,000.
George’s first day is also a welcome return to public appearances for Kate and Wills after Harry and Meghan’s bombshell return to the UK.
The Sussexes returned to the UK with their children earlier this month.
Friends of the couple said that they “trying to avoid being spotted” while they focus on settling their two children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, before school starts, however.
Meanwhile, Kate and William are to “keep calm and carry on” — amid fears that Harry and Meghan’s return to the UK could make a “mockery” of royal roles.
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While reportedly “stunned” by the Sussexes return, Kate and Wills are understood to be planning not to let the drama derail their “commitment to service and duty.”
William continued to be a working royal while his father and wife both had cancer while Kate slowly returned to public duty despite her ill-health with a string of high profile engagements across Britain and even Italy this year.
The couple will have a full programme of jobs after the summer break as George begins his first year at Eton.
The eldest Wales child’s first day comes on the fourth anniversary of the Queen’s death in 2022.
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Royal insiders speculated the Princess of Wales was keen for George to attend a different school, rather than following in his father’s footsteps at Eton.
It was believed she isn’t keen on same-sex schools such as Eton because she reportedly “absolutely hated” her time at Downe House, an all-girls boarding school in Berkshire, where she was allegedly bullied.