The Duke and Duchess
of Cambridge are preparing to move to Windsor this summer, Kensington
Palace has announced.
And with that comes a new
school for their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte,
and Prince Louis. The palace confirmed that the royal youngsters have been
enrolled at Lambrook School and will be starting there in
September.
The statement released at
midday on Monday read: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have today
announced that Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will attend
Lambrook School in Berkshire from September 2022.
“Their Royal Highnesses
are hugely grateful to Thomas’s Battersea where George and Charlotte have had a
happy start to their education since 2017 and 2019 respectively and are pleased
to have found a school for all three of their children that shares a similar
ethos and values to Thomas’s.”
Jonathan
Perry, the headmaster at Lambrook School, said: “We are delighted that Prince
George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis will be joining us this coming
September and very much look forward to welcoming the family, as well as all of
our new pupils, to our school community.”
Lambrook is a preparatory
school in Berkshire for boys and girls from ages three to 13. There are
610 pupils at the Church of England school, and according to the Good Schools
Guide, the boarding fee for Lambrook School last year was £25,440.
While William and Kate both
went to boarding school, it’s likely that their children will be day pupils as
their new home, Adelaide Cottage, which is located on the Queen’s Windsor
Estate, is only a 15-minute drive away from Lambrook.
The day fee for 2021 to 2022
was estimated between £13,167 and £20,997.
What is the school’s vision?
Lambrook aims to nurture their
pupils and give them ‘feathers to fly’, according to the Good Schools Guide.
Jonathan Perry, the headmaster
at Lambrook since 2010, explains this further: “We give them feathers
to fly so that when they leave us, they will spread their wings and take
flight.”
Mr. Perry is also described as
having a “gentle, encouraging” approach, being “charm
personified”, and is committed to setting up a bursary programme for the
school, due in part to his Christian values.
Mr. Perry also meets with the
families of all prospective pupils to “ensure that we are the best fit for
their needs” and is “not afraid to turn away” the ones that
don’t share the school’s ethos.
What
subjects might George, Charlotte, and Louis study?
Lambrook offers a wide range
of subjects for its pupils, so there’ll be plenty to keep George, Charlotte,
and Louis busy. The royals will have lessons in French, Religious Studies,
Design and Technology and, from year five onwards, Latin is compulsory. There’s
also Saturday school from this age.
Lambrook also has a total of
178 LAMDA lessons on offer each week along with 420 individual music lessons,
from tap dancing to bagpipe playing.
If the Cambridges can carry a
tune, they might also join the senior chapel choir when they’re older, which
has performed in Notre Dame and Windsor Castle. They’ll also spend a lot
of time in Lambrook’s beautiful chapel, where there are four services a week
and pupils’ families, as well as outside speakers, attend on Saturdays.
What
are the school grounds and facilities like?
The school grounds are 52
acres, so the royals will have plenty of space to roam and play in (less space
than at their new home Adelaide Cottage, however, which sits on the Windsor
Estate with a whopping 655 acres).
There is a nine-hole golf
course, a 25-meter swimming pool, and a large sports hall, so there will
be plenty of opportunities for the Princes and Princess to get stuck in sports.
The children tumble back into
school “ruddy-cheeked and full of fresh air,” according to the Good
Schools Guide.
The guide also describes the
classrooms as being “single-storey, wooden-clad buildings with big windows
that let in lots of natural light”. They are “strikingly
clean-smelling and up-to-date teaching spaces – no dusty corners or tired
paintwork”.
The dining room is also
currently being renovated to reduce waiting times and to accommodate more
pupils.
How
many children attend Lambrook School?
This place is a thriving
independent school that is home to 620 boys and girls.
What
kind of charity work will the royals do?
The royals won’t just be
spending their time having lessons and exploring the vast grounds: the school
also prioritizes helping out those in need.
Year 7 pupils raise £500 to
pay for an underprivileged child to go canoeing in Sweden, through the
Teenage Wilderness Trust, and they’re not allowed to simply ask their parents
to write a cheque. They have to do volunteering activities such as baking cakes
or washing cars to raise the funds.
Pupils also get to visit
Lambrook’s partner school near Durban in South Africa, where they play cricket
with pupils there and donate practical things like pens or toothbrushes. “They
come back as better individuals,” says headmaster Jonathan Perry.
George, Charlotte and Louis
will also be learning about the importance of sustainability – an issue
their grandfather Prince Charles is particularly passionate about.
Every class has a veg patch,
there are lessons on ecology and the food industry, and pupils planted 300
saplings last year to reduce their carbon footprint. The school also
houses rabbits which the children are welcome to pet at lunchtime.
