The prestigious school Princess Charlotte could be set to attend,
The prestigious school Princess Charlotte could be set to attend has been revealed, with its eye-watering fees ranging from £15,000 to £20,000 per term.
Charlotte, aged 10, currently attends Berkshire’s Lambrook School with her two siblings, Princes George, 12, and Prince Louis, seven.
However, speculation of which secondary school the princess could be enrolled in at the age of 13 is already beginning to mount.
Speaking on HELLO!’s A Right Royal Podcast, Melanie Sanderson, Managing Editor of The Good Schools Guide, said that Wellington College is certainly a strong contender for her parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales.
‘I’ve been told Wellington is a possible school for Princess Charlotte,’ she revealed.
‘I suspect with the royals that normal rules possibly don’t apply. I feel as though they may be holding multiple places at different schools.’
Set in the heart of Berkshire, Wellington College is located a short distance from the Waleses family home at Forrest Lodge on the Windsor Estate, with fees set at £15,250 for day pupils and £20,750 for boarders.
Melanie added: ‘If Charlotte is going to a co-ed, it might be that they would want her to be joined by her brother Louis. Logistically, that would work for them really, really well.’
Founded by Queen Victoria, the prestigious co-educational school is set within 400 acres of vast grounds and prides itself on academic excellence.
It comes as questions mount surrounding where her brother, George, could be set to attend in September – with a well-placed source previously telling the Mail on Sunday that ‘all roads lead to Eton’ after the young prince was allocated a house.
Although William and Kate were spotted looking around a number of top schools, Eton and rival Marlborough College were clear front-runners.
Eton – the alma mater of Prince William, where fees are more than £63,000 a year – is conveniently near the family home in Windsor.
Meanwhile, Kate is known to have flourished at Marlborough, and the co-ed school would allow Princess Charlotte to join her elder brother, right at Trooping the Colour last week.
But now insiders have claimed there is ‘smugness’ emanating from Eton about a forthcoming announcement.
‘It was like, ‘I know something and the people at Eton know something, but I’m not going to tell you’. That was after William and Kate visited Eton,’ one source said.
The Mail on Sunday previously revealed how the Prince and Princess of Wales had been ‘plagued by indecision’ about their choice of school for young George.
Although the £63,000-a-year public school is still the ‘clear front-runner’, leadership changes – including a six-month leave of absence for headmaster Simon Henderson – has left the royal couple uncertain if Eton is right for their eldest child.
Mr Henderson, 49 – who earned the nickname ‘Trendy Hendy’ after being accused of launching an ‘aggressively woke’ bid to overhaul the 585-year-old institution – was absent from his post for unspecified reasons between last August and January.
It was during this period that Kate was seen visiting several other possible schools, including two in North London.
It has long been assumed that Eton – where Prince William was educated – would be the first choice for 12-year-old George when he leaves Lambrook, his preparatory school in Berkshire, next summer.
But sources have told the MoS that Mr Henderson’s absence left William and Kate feeling ‘unsure’ about the direction the school would take upon his return – or if he would return at all.
Just before the headmaster’s leave began, the Provost of Eton, former Tory minister Lord (William) Waldegrave – Mr Henderson’s close friend and mentor – also unexpectedly stepped down after 15 years in the role.
And while the Waleses were thought to have been ‘reassured’ when Sir Nicholas Coleridge, chair of Historic Royal Palaces, was appointed Provost last year, they are said to have wanted to wait until Mr Henderson returned before making a final decision.
However, 60,000 a year Marlborough School has previously been cited as a possible option for the future King – with William, Kate, George and Charlotte toured the £60,000 a year school where Kate was a pupil after she left all-girls Downe House due to bullying.
Latterly royal sons, including William and Harry, have gone to Eton. Marlborough’s alumni include Princess Eugenie.
Meanwhile, Kate’s former house at Marlborough, Elmhurst, has seen an influx of celebrity children.
An announcement about George’s schooling is now eagerly awaited – mainly by parents who have children the same age as him.
One parent at Marlborough College previously said: ‘We are all hoping an announcement will be made soon because there’s a huge waiting list at Marlborough.
‘Once everyone finds out that George is going to another school that backlog will disappear.’
The Daily Mail approached Kensington Palace and Wellington College for comment.
