Radio presenter James O'Brien has come under fire after his 'hypocritical' remarks about Prince George's private school education. Speaking on Wednesday's instalment of LBC, O'Brien—who attended the prestigious Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire—said: 'What was the first thing you thought when you heard that Prince George was going to Eton and why did you think it? Because I thought, oh that's a shame, and you are perfectly entitled to ask me why.'
'I think it will mean that he is completely detached and deliberately detached from… or he will find it much, much harder to understand the lives and concerns of ordinary people,' O'Brien suggested.
However, critics quickly pointed out that O'Brien himself is privately educated and sends his own children to private schools. Emily Carver tweeted: 'Privately educated James O’Brien says it’s a shame Prince George is going to Eton because he’ll be detached from ordinary people. This is O’Brien insisting he had to send his own children to private school because otherwise the ghost of his late father would come back to haunt…'
During the show, O'Brien acknowledged his own background: 'I'm fascinated by private education. I am a beneficiary of it, and I am a user of it,' before musing that his late father would 'haunt' him had he not put his own children in private schools and given them 'the best possible education than they could ever have'. On the flip side, O'Brien clarified that he could recognise the 'fundamental unfairness' of private schools, a statement that left listeners frustrated.
Flocking to X after the show aired, one wrote: 'Surely the biggest hypocrite on our airwaves!!' Another added: 'This fits a common pattern where commentators like JO'B criticise elite/private education in principle (especially for institutions like the monarchy) while personally benefiting from or opting into it.' A third remarked: 'He's a hypocrite who should be removed off the air,' while a fourth stated: 'Hypocrite. So it's all right for his kids to go private but not all right for others to go private? If I could afford I would send mine in a heartbeat.'
