Here’s a Key Reason Why Prince William Probably Loves His Kids’ New School

It centers specifically around Princess Charlotte and a shared passion of theirs.

Prince William and Princess Charlotte
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Rachel Burchfield
By Rachel Burchfield
published

Ahead of their move to Windsor, Prince William and Kate Middleton undertook a thoughtful, careful search to choose the right school for all three of their children—next month marks the first time ever that Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis will all attend school under the same roof. (George and Charlotte have gone to school together at Thomas’s Battersea since 2019, but without little brother Louis.)

Earlier this week, Marie Claire reported that the Cambridges had officially chosen Lambrook School in Berkshire, of which the couple said in a statement they were “pleased to have found a school for all three of our children which shares a similar ethos and values [to Thomas’s Battersea].”

Lambrook looks pretty fantastic—PEOPLE reports that the countryside school offers everything from a scuba diving club to an indoor pool to classes in filmmaking and animation to beekeeping, a nine-hole golf course, and polo. It checks the box of being coeducational so all three kids can attend, and it’s set just outside of Windsor on 52 acres—wide open and spacious, the antithesis of the more cramped London. Known as one of the top prep schools in the U.K., Lambrook has approximately 560 pupils, and George, Charlotte, and Louis will be day pupils, meaning they’ll attend school during the day but return home to Adelaide Cottage at night.

HELLO! reports one detail about Lambrook that apparently impressed William (and us, too): according to the school’s website, football (soccer to us Americans), along with cricket, “is compulsory for female students, and as an avid supporter of women’s football, the fact that his daughter will be able to partake in the sport is likely to have appealed to William,” the outlet writes.

William has long been a supporter of football—men's and women’s—and who can forget William and Charlotte’s adorable video cheering on England’s women’s football team ahead of the Euros 2022 final? (The team ultimately won 2-1.) In the short clip, William said “We both want to wish the Lionesses the best of luck for tonight. You’ve done amazingly well in the competition, and we are rooting for you all the way.” Charlotte, cuddled up next to her Papa, added “Good luck. I hope you win. Bye.”

William has previously revealed that Charlotte has a passion for football, telling the Lionesses “Charlotte wants me to tell you she’s really good in goal…a budding star for the future.”

We can see the vision of William on the sidelines at Charlotte’s football matches already.

Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more. 

Latest