Prince William is also letting out a sigh of relief after homeschooling his kids for five long months.
After months of staying indoors at home, children in the UK are getting ready to go back to school. Many of them would be starting school for the first time and unfortunately, it is going to happen in the middle of a pandemic. The British royal children are no exception and Prince George and Princess Charlotte are also returning to their London-based school soon.
The children of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge go to Thomas's Battersea, which reopened on September 7. Both of the older children go to the £19,287-a-year ($25,000) private school. The oldest, George, is to start Year 3 with his younger sister Charlotte all set for Year 1. The children are reportedly treated just like every other child in the school when they walk into the school, according to Mirror UK.
Prince George is reportedly doing well at the private school and that's why they decided to send Charlotte there as well. "He's very popular and has lots of friends, and there's very little fuss made about who he is. Either William or Kate do drop off, and they are always very friendly. William particularly loves to have a chat with some of the other parents and he works out with some of the mums at the Harbour Club after drop off. He's very chatty and amiable," a source told Vanity Fair.
The royal children happen to have names which are a mouthful. Prince George for instance is actually George Alexander Louis, His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge but nobody calls him that at school. To his peers, he is George Cambridge. Similarly, his sister's full name is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. But, she too will go by Charlotte Cambridge.
Prince William and Prince Harry had also followed this tradition and had taken Prince Charles' title Wales as their surname at school, as per Hello! Magazine. They had also used the same title for their military careers. It makes sense that the Duke of Cambridge would want his kids to be treated at par with other students. His mother, Princess Diana, is the one who instilled the appreciation for a normal life separate from the royal one in him.
The Duke of Cambridge also opened up about being relieved that his kids are finally returning to school, according to Hello! Magazine. In a candid conversation, while he was in Belfast to mark Emergency Services Day, he told a police officer that he suspects other parents are having a similar experience as him.
"I think every parent is breathing a sigh of relief that school has started again," he said. He went on, "Five months – it’s been wonderful, but it’s been a long five months."
William and Kate Middleton were homeschooling their kids, Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2, while continuing to do their charity work as well. Middleton had previously mentioned that she didn't give them an Easter break and kept their classes on during that time.
"Don't tell the children, we've actually kept it going through the holidays. I feel very mean," she said. However, the parents didn't deprive the children of a summer holiday and took them on a vacation to the Isles of Scilly in July.
As doting a dad as William is, he is also very forthcoming about the struggles of parenting. He had mentioned that he has trouble sleeping because of his kids sometimes; nevertheless, fatherhood comes first for him.
“There’s wonderful highs and wonderful lows," said the Duke said in an interview with Talk Vietnam, as per Hello! Magazine. "It’s been quite a change for me personally. I’m very lucky in the support I have from Catherine, she’s an amazing mother and a fantastic wife. But I’ve struggled at times. The alteration from being a single independent man to going into marriage and then having children is life-changing."
"I adore my children very much," he added. "I’ve learned a lot about myself and about family just from having my own children. George is a right little rascal sometimes, he keeps me on my toes but he’s a sweet boy. And Charlotte, bearing in mind I haven’t had a sister so having a daughter is a very different dynamic. So I’m learning about having a daughter, having a girl in the family."
References:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-princess-charlotte-called-school-22604476
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/04/inside-prince-georges-surprisingly-normal-kindergarten-life
https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2020091096945/prince-george-princess-charlotte-surname-school/
https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/gallery/2019061374146/prince-william-best-quotes-fatherhood/2/
