His Royal Shyness!
NERVES Prince George meets the head on first day of school
Kate would have done anything to be here. It’s a big day in her son’s life ROYAL INSIDER ON KATE’S ABSENCE DUE TO ILLNESS
PRINCE George looked nervous and shy as he arrived for his first day at school yesterday, and proud dad Prince William later admitted it had been a “stressful” occasion.
William, 35, did the first school run alone, as pregnant wife Kate, 35, had to miss her son’s big day due to severe morning sickness.
After dropping George, four, off at Thomas’s Battersea, a £6,000-aterm prep school in South West London, at 8.50am, William hosted a reception for the England Under-20 football squad.
Asked by coach Paul Simpson if he’d had a “good school day”, William said: “Stressful day. Doing a school run. It was really nice actually. It went well.”
William revealed other parents were not so lucky. He said: “There was one other parent who had more of an issue with their children, so I was quite pleased I wasn’t the one.”
Earlier, shy George had gripped on to his father’s hand as they arrived at the school.
William held George’s backpack as the young prince politely shook hands with Helen Haslem, head of the lower school. Then, with William holding one hand and Ms Haslem the other, George walked inside to meet his classmates. Prince Charles sympathised with his grandson when told he had looked anxious at the school gate.
Charles, 68, told ITV News: “Poor old thing. He’s been left there to have to get on with it when the parents go away. It’s good for you in the end, I suppose. It’s character building, I suppose.”
Ben Thomas, who was headmaster of Thomas’s Battersea for 18 years, said there would be no “special treatment” for George.
“What his parents would like for him, as any parent would like for their child, is that they have a wonderful, fulfilling and private childhood in a place that is secure.”
And George’s first day was kept as private as possible. Two Range Rovers pulled up and George went in through a rear entrance, avoiding media and well-wishers.
The prince will be one of the youngest in a class of 21 and will be known as George Cambridge. He will start with just half days.
Mr Thomas, principal of Thomas’s London Day Schools, said it would be “a very, very gentle start”.
Kate was devastated to miss the first day due to Hyperemesis Gravidarum, the sickness she also
had while pregnant with George and his sister Charlotte, two.
A royal source said: “She would have done anything to be here. It’s a big day in her son’s life, but she really has been very sick.”
Kensington Palace tweeted snaps of William and Harry’s first days at school, which attracted huge crowds. But those waiting to see George were left disappointed.
Rita Cresswell, 71, and husband Tony, 74, had travelled down from Matlock, Derbys. Rita said: “My granddaughter started preschool yesterday and I was hoping to get a photograph of George to show her that the prince had started.”
Benedicta Osei, 53, said: “I thought it’d be like when William and Harry started, they were both excited and very happy. It wasn’t the case. It is very disheartening.”
In Belfast, crowds who waited to see Prince Harry, 32, on his first official visit had more luck as he chatted to them on a walkabout.