Prince Harry has revealed in a new interview with GQ why he wanted his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to attend a British school. The Duke of Sussex shared that the young royals, aged seven and five, are "loving" their new school, which they started after the family moved back to the UK in August.
Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, who married in 2018, are thought to be living in the Cotswolds with their two children. The family made their first joint appearance since their return last week, visiting Nottingham.
Why the family moved back to the UK
In the interview, Harry was asked why the family moved back to the UK and chose to educate their children in a British school. He responded: "Opportunities for the family. Being able to put the kids in a British school has meant a lot to me. I didn’t know how important it was to me. I always thought it was going to be something that we would try and do, but now they’ve been in school for two weeks."
He added: "They’re loving it and it’s just giving them a whole different experience. I’m not criticising American schools." Harry explained that for children at seven and five, having "two completely different cultural experiences is so important today," and expressed happiness about being "back closer to my family and to be back on UK soil for longer than a few days or a week here or there."
Archie's first day at school
Harry also spoke about wanting to show his children "where I grew up," saying: "Wanting… them to have the experiences that I had, the good rather than necessarily the bad, provided real proper serious thinking as to: This is an opportunity, let's do it now."
During his appearance with Meghan in Nottingham, Harry revealed fresh details about Archie's new school, including what his first lesson was. Bending down to talk to students, he said: "Most people don’t like math. My son turned around to me and said, ‘Can I go to a school that doesn’t do math?’"
Harry continued: "I said, ‘That doesn’t exist!’ And then he went to his new school, and on his first day, his first class, guess what it was? Math!"
School details withheld for security
Little detail is known about Archie and Lilibet's new school. The name and location have been deliberately withheld for security reasons. The young royals initially started at a school within days of arriving in the UK but were withdrawn after two days because their congested commute raised security concerns.
It remains unknown how long the family plan to stay in the UK, although they are thought to be returning to California to spend Christmas with Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland.
