Prince George officially begins his time at Eton College today, stepping through the iconic gates to join the elite Windsor boarding school. The 13-year-old royal, second-in-line to the throne, follows directly in the footsteps of his father, Prince William, and his uncle, Prince Harry, and will spend the next five years as a boarder.
Moving on from Lambrook School, where he attended with his siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, George will now live at Eton full-time during term. His first week will involve mastering the school's distinctive tailcoat-and-waistcoat uniform, passing the mandatory "colours test," and learning local slang — from "beaks" (teachers) to "dry bobs" (cricketers).
Signing the centuries-old entrance book
Arriving alongside the Prince and Princess of Wales, George will mark his official start by signing the school's centuries-old entrance book. This mirrors the iconic 1995 moment when a young William signed the same register with his parents and brother by his side.
While at Lambrook, George did part-time boarding, but this is the first time he will be away from home for longer periods. According to the Eton website, registration fees for Year 9 are currently £480 (including VAT), with an acceptance fee for boys joining in 2026 of £3,840 (£500 refunded when the boy leaves). Extras can range from £500 to £1,500 per Half depending on activities.
Life in Manor House
George is expected to live in Manor House, following William and Harry's legacy. His new home will feature a single bed, desk, and shelves, and every student gets their own private room that increases in size each year, under the care of a House Master and Dame. He will also have a "boys maid" to tidy his room each morning.
Students can use "messing" time in the afternoons to make snacks in the house kitchens, or head to the nearby Budgens for ramen noodles and chocolate biscuits. "Chambers" takes place every morning, giving each boy 25 minutes to eat and chat with house masters. Fellow students have recalled how the future King will be given a cooked breakfast and can even eat it in his dressing gown.
The school's own pub and punishments
The school even has its own pub called Tap, where pupils aged 16 and over can order two pints of beer or cider, three times a week. On his first night, George will queue for a buffet dinner in the house's dining room, called an "Eat-in." Those in "Eat-in" houses usually hold the closest bonds as they eat, sleep, and play sports together daily.
A former Eton pupil writes in The Times: "The food is good but the food served daily to Eton's King's Scholars - awarded to about 14 of the most academically successful pupils each year, who are in their own house, College, is a cut above. I remember sometimes being served confit duck legs, swordfish risottos, a salad of crayfish and salmon roe, because the kitchen that cooks for College also caters for the school's provost and headmaster. If their guests did not want their dinner, the collegers would."
After dinner, boarding house members, housemasters, and dames meet for "prayers" and a rollcall with announcements and hymns. The school boasts three large theatres, including the 401-seat Farrer Theatre, a rowing lake at Dorney used in the 2012 Olympics, and a library with over 150,000 books.
Mentors, timelords, and trials
George will be assigned an "uncle" as a mentor and a "timelord" to help manage his diary. Exams are called "trials," school prefects are "Pops," and lessons are "divs." His curriculum includes English, maths, science, geography, history, Latin, divinity, classical Greek, drama, art, PE, music, design, and modern languages including French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and Mandarin.
Breaches of school rules could land him in "The Bill," notified by a "praepostor," a prefect from the academic elite. Other punishments include Lines (copying out 100 hexameters of Latin poetry), a Georgic (copying 500 hexameters), and Chores, which can include weeding a housemaster's garden as unpaid labour.
Eton is just 10 minutes from the Wales family's "forever home" Forest Lodge on the Windsor Estate, allowing George to go home on weekends if he wishes. According to Royal Expert Jennie Bond, this move for George is "much more of a big step" as she explained to The Mirror: "[He's] had the security and comfort of living at home until now. There's no getting away from the fact that moving away from your family home – and George's family home is a very happy and secure one indeed – is going to be a wrench. But it's going to be the most enormous help to George to know that his dad went through exactly the same process and he can turn to him for advice, comfort or support."
William once revealed his decision to ban his children from having mobile phones, admitting it's turning into a "tense issue" with George. The future king said none of his children are allowed phones as he is "very strict" on the matter. He said in June: "It is really hard. Our children don't have phones. When George moves on to secondary school, maybe he'll have one with limited access. It's getting to the point where it is becoming a bit of a tense issue. But I think he understands why, we communicate why we don't think it's right. I think it's the full internet access I have a problem with, children can access too much stuff they don't need to see online but having a phone with text messages, the old-style brick phones like we used to call them, that's fine."
Eton has a long line of well-known alumni, including his uncle Harry, who struggled academically but excelled in sports and military training. Twenty prime ministers have studied there, including Boris Johnson and David Cameron. Author George Orwell, James Bond writer Ian Fleming, actors Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston, and even Bear Grylls have attended the college.
