For Prince George and Princess Charlotte, These Traits are "Just as Important" as Being Good in Math as They Prepare for Boarding School
Princess Kate's philosophy on parenting is rather different than the royals before her.
There’s a new frontrunner in the battle of the boarding schools, with Prince George suspected to be attending Oundle School in Northamptonshire, England. Prince William and Princess Kate also toured the school with Princess Charlotte earlier this month, as Marie Claire exclusively reported. While the Wales family prepares to take their next educational step, there’s three important principles Kate hopes they take with them.
In a 2017 speech the princess gave at the Place2Be Big Assembly for Children's Mental Health Week, she reflected on the values her parents instilled in her and how she applies them to her own kids. Prince Louis wasn’t born at the time, but she said that for George and Charlotte, academic success wasn’t everything.
“My parents taught me about the importance of qualities like kindness, respect, and honesty, and I realize how central values like these have been to me throughout my life,” Princess Kate said. “That is why William and I want to teach our little children, George and Charlotte, just how important these things are as they grow up.”
The Wales family attends Easter Sunday services in 2026.
George, Charlotte and Louis joined their parents at the 2025 Together at Christmas concert.
The Princess of Wales holds these values so dear that she added her childrens' moral characters were equally important as getting good grades. “In my view it is just as important as excelling at maths or sport,” she said.
“I think that every child should have people around them to show them love, and to show them kindness, and nurture them as they grow,” the princess added.
Prince George will finish his time at Lambrook School in July before he moves on to secondary school, and Charlotte, 11, will follow in his footsteps when she turns 13. While 8-year-old Prince Louis is still a bit young to be thinking about boarding school, a source recently told Marie Claire that Prince William and Princess Kate visited Oundle School and “were enquiring about boarding all three of them, but this was a tour with Charlotte for this time.”
