Prince George has begun his first term at Eton College, the prestigious Berkshire school attended by his father, Prince William, and uncle, Prince Harry. The Prince and Princess of Wales accompanied their 13-year-old son on the short journey from their home at Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park to the school on Tuesday.
Eton, which has educated numerous prime ministers and Hollywood stars, is known for its distinctive customs. George's first week includes mastering the iconic tailcoat-and-waistcoat uniform and passing the mandatory "colours test."
Eton's Unique Traditions and Lingo
The young prince will also need to learn the school's particular vocabulary. Teachers are called "beaks," cricketers are referred to as "dry bobs," and lessons are known as "divs." Exams are called "trials," and school prefects are known as "Pops," according to The Mirror.
George began his Eton journey by signing the centuries-old entrance book, echoing the moment in 1995 when a young William signed the same register with his parents and brother by his side.
Boarding Life and Accommodation
After previously attending Lambrook School with his siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, George will now live at Eton full-time during term periods. He is expected to reside in Manor House, following in the footsteps of his father and uncle. Each student has a private room with a single bed, desk, and shelves, which increases in size each year.
The prince will live in one of 25 boarding houses, each led by a house master and dame who provide pastoral care. Houses accommodate around 50 boys, with roughly 10 from each year group. A "boys maid" will tidy his room each morning, and students can use "messing" time in the afternoons to make snacks in the house kitchens.
Daily Routines and Punishments
"Chambers" takes place every morning, giving each boy 25 minutes to eat and chat with house masters. Former students recall that the future King will be given a cooked breakfast, which he can eat in his dressing gown if he wishes. The school also 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 with other new students for a buffet dinner called an "Eat-in," followed by after-dinner "prayers" and a rollcall with announcements and hymns. Any breaches of school rules will land him in "The Bill," and he will be notified by a "praepostor," a prefect from the academic elite. Punishments include Lines (copying out 100 hexameters of Latin poetry), a Georgic (copying 500 hexameters), and Chores such as weeding a housemaster's garden as unpaid labour.
Facilities and Curriculum
Eton boasts three large theatres, including the 401-seat Farrer Theatre, a rowing lake at Dorney used in the 2012 Olympics, and a library holding more than 150,000 books. George will enroll in F Block (Eton's term for Year 9) and will be assigned an "uncle" as a mentor, plus a "timelord" to help manage his diary and navigate the intense schedule.
His curriculum includes English, maths, science, geography, history, Latin, divinity, classical Greek, drama, art, PE, music, design, and modern languages such as French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and Mandarin. An academic term is called a "half," and the year is split into Michaelmas, Lent, and Summer terms.
