School beckons George

PRINCE George is starting school this week – a major milestone for the little boy who will one day be king.

Prince William and Kate have chosen an independent school in south London for their four-year-old son.

Thomas’s Battersea will welcome the young prince and his parents on Thursday, the first day of the new academic year, with Helen Haslem, head of lower school, expected to greet the royal couple.

George (pictured) will be dressed in his new uniform, a navy v-neck pullover, matching Bermuda-style shorts, long red socks and black shoes.

The school, where fees cost from $A30,000 a year, has been described by the Good Schools Guide as: “A big, busy, slightly chaotic school for cosmopolitan parents who want their children to have the best English education money can buy.

“That is what they want and, to a large degree, that is what they get.”

Kate has already said she is not sure George “has any idea what’s going to hit him” when he starts school.

Thomas’s Battersea has 560 boys and girls aged from four to 13, with around 20 in each class.