What will Kate make of the SW11 mum club?
As Prince George starts his first day at school, Estelle Lee reveals what awaits the Duchess at the gates
This morning marks the first school day of a future king. And just as significantly, the Duchess of Cambridge’s official passing into the SW11 mummy club. It is not so much a figurative journey, as a literal one; from the very moment Kate leaves the wrought-iron gates of Kensington Palace and, quite unlike any royal before her, crosses the Thames – horror! – in rush hour to begin life as a school mum at Thomas’s Battersea prep school. It is a route that most did not expect the couple to choose. Many had thought Wetherby Prep in Notting Hill, where the Duke of Cambridge went, was a shoo-in for young Prince George – and one can only imagine the intense disappointment among the W11 set today. That said, Thomas’s has the Middleton glossy seal of approval stamped all over it. Founded in the Seventies by actress Joanna Thomas, the day school embodies the middle-class London parent for whom education is everything.
Its brand rests on the central pillars of kindness, learning and enjoyment. These have attracted many parents to its village school vibe, where children in newly purchased Peter Jones uniforms scoot to school along the wide pavements, or are ferried there in cargo bikes from homes “between the Commons” (estate agent parlance for the lucrative housing market spanning Clapham and Wandsworth’s green spaces). With fees pushing £7,000 per term and many parents paying for two-plus children, one mother commented, “there are parents who will forgo every penny to send their
child here”. These are work hard, play hard types who are used to having a measurable return on their investments.
The reception class, which Prince George will join today, is described as “lovely, but with an eye on progress” and homework is optional until Year 4. Progressive (and gender-free) child-centred learning means the young royal will be just as likely to do ballet as play cricket. But don’t be fooled by this pleasing display of liberal parenting; the SW11 mum club is notorious for appearing breezily laissez-faire, but behind closed doors is fiercely competitive, checking book bags on play dates and scheduling holiday Kumon tutors so their little darlings don’t fall behind.
In contrast to their more Bohemian neighbours north of the river, sporting ability is also highly prized and parents will spend most of their weekends in Range Rovers on the South Circular road, ferrying offspring to the many fixtures on the Thomas’s sporting calendar.
The extent to which such achievements are held in high esteem is underscored by the emergence of Thomas’s tours to long-haul destinations, such as a week skiing at the school’s very own Austrian chalet. These “once in a lifetime” trips have been very divisive among parents: “especially when I know my daughter would have been just as happy with a bag of sweets on the back row of the first team mini bus,” said one mother. (The second team just wouldn’t do.)
The chatter among parents over the past week has, of course, been “off the Richter scale”, but fortunately Thomas’s school rules to discourage children from having “best friends” should put a stop to any gaffes as George becomes the most sought-after play date in SW11.
There are likely to be three types of mums Kate will encounter, says one old hand: “Those who will not be able to control themselves and behave like idiots, those who will be too cool for school and pretend they’re not looking but actually care massively, and the third who are just too busy to bother.”
For these Nappy Valley mums, school life is less about nannies and more about throwing their infinite resources behind parenting with a capital P. Many of the formidable women had high-powered jobs in law, advertising or PR before pouring all their energies into being domestic CEOS. And they have their eyes on the long game – Eton, Marlborough and Wellington were all among the leavers’ destinations at Thomas’s last year.
As one insider says, “there is an expectation that parents get stuck in. It’s frowned on if you just outsource the reading and pay lip service to the PTA.”
Kate might have more in common with the Lululemon-clad crowd who, after drop-off, head to boutique Wandsworth gym The Train Station. Or if she fancies a more sedate morning with Princess Charlotte and dog Lupo, Kate will also find new mum friends sipping turmeric lattes at the fashionable Pear Tree café in Battersea Park, before heading off to browse the Northcote Road – the local epicentre of the SW11 mum (think Gails for sourdough bread, LK Bennett for footwear, Jojo Maman Bébé to clothe any smaller siblings, and divine brioche from Aux Merveilleux de Fred to take home for an after-school treat).
Already, much has been made of the school run – in traffic, it takes 45 minutes to travel three-and-a-half miles, one way. Perhaps, in one respect, it’s a smart move. For a family whose lives are ruled by scheduling, this may give George a sacred hour in which to practise those times tables and Mandarin verbs, which will only ramp up as the years go by.
But one thing is for sure: school is as much an opportunity for the parents to shine as the children. And at Thomas’s Battersea the stakes are high.
“The PTA night out is essentially a good excuse to have a snoop round the Farrow & Ball paint shades of the other mums’ homes,” laughs one mother.
Will Kate throw open the doors of Kensington Palace beyond her close-knit gang and welcome the SW11 set? If so, she’d best make sure her duck egg blue walls are ready.