Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PRIVACY, FLOATING MEALS & HIPPOS
£17k-a-year school will teach George to ‘be kind’
boat. We have several different rooms here at Tongabezi. The family units are different from what a honeymooning couple would want, for example.”
Honeymoon House features an outside bath and plunge pool, and has stunning views over the Zambezi – in which pods of hippos are visible.
“You have to be very careful with the hippos,” said my guide, a South African who used to work at a hotel in Southwest London. “You can never tell with them. You don’t know what has happened to them during the day.
“At night when some guests return to their rooms we ensure they have an armed guard with them in case there is any problem.
“But those who use Honeymoon House or Nut House don’t have that problem as it is higher up the river bank and on a rocky outcrop.” The lodge, which has a maximum 26 guests at any one time, even has a romantic floating restaurant, which is towed into the river and anchored.
My guide said: “It has a table for two. Staff then use a small boat to bring out drinks, starters, main course and dessert. It’s always very popular and booked up in advance.”
The extensive buffet breakfast, however, is served inside “so that monkeys can’t get it”.
According to locals, Harry and Meghan went river-rafting down the Zambezi, took a helicopter ride over the falls and visited Livingstone Island during their stay there.
But Tongabezi general manager Rudy Boribon declined to discuss the royal visit, saying: “I’m sorry but I won’t comment on it as it’s private.”
Before ending their holiday, Harry and Meghan spent some time in nearby Botswana.
They were snapped landing at Maun airport, smiling as they crossed the tarmac together.
It was Harry’s second visit to the Meno a Kwena tented bush camp – he also took his former flame Chelsy Davy there in 2007.
Meghan, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, has been staying at Kensington Palace since they returned to the UK. But she is believed to be heading back to Toronto, Canada, later this week for filming.
She and Harry will be reunited at the Invictus Games, being held in Toronto later this month.
The prince created the event to honour sick, injured and wounded armed forces personnel. And he met Meghan while he was in Canada last year promoting the event. PRINCE George will be taught to “be kind” at his new £17,600a-year private school.
The future king will be encouraged to become a “conscientious and caring citizen of the world” at Thomas’s Battersea in South London.
The four-year-old will join one of three co-education reception classes on Thursday and stay until he is 11 or 13.
Fees are £17,604 a year and increase to £19,884 for those in Year 3 and above.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are continuing a royal tradition by opting for an independent institution rather than a state school.
PROGRESS
However, William and Kate chose Thomas’s Battersea over the much closer Wetherby Prep in Notting Hill, where William and Harry were both schooled. Their choice in South London is three-and-ahalf miles from Kensington Palace – a journey that can take up to 40 minutes.
It is rated outstanding by Ofsted, with pupils cited as making rapid progress.
Its most important rule is: “Be kind.” And a 2014 official inspection also states: “Pupils are adamant that there is no bullying at the school.” According to the Good Schools Guide, it is “a big, busy, slightly chaotic school for cosmopolitan parents who want their children to have the best English education money can buy.”