Princess Charlotte Arrives for Her First Day of School
Princess Charlotte arrived for her first-ever day of school today, September 5th. She’s joined older brother Prince George at Thomas’s Battersea school in London. Parents Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and Kate Middleton walked the kids into class, and Kate wore a Michael Kors long-sleeved floral dress that she had previously sported at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding rehearsal dinner. George and Charlotte, clad in their school uniforms, smiled and waved for the cameras.
It was Kate’s first time taking one of her children to their first day at school, as when George started at Thomas’s Battersea she was ill with a severe condition, hyperemesis gravidarum, while pregnant with Prince Louis.
In a video released by Kensington Palace, George and Charlotte shook hands with her new teacher. Prince William said that Charlotte was “very excited” for her first day.
In a statement released back in May, Thomas’s Battersea Headteacher Simon O’Malley said, “We are delighted that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have decided that Princess Charlotte will join her elder brother, Prince George, at Thomas’s Battersea. We greatly look forward to welcoming her and all of our new pupils to the school.”
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – SEPTEMBER 5: Princess Charlotte, with by her father, the Duke of Cambridge, and mother, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George, arriving for her first day of school at Thomas’s Battersea in London on September 5, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – SEPTEMBER 5: Helen Haslem, head of the lower school greets Princess Charlotte as she arrives for her first day of school, with her brother Prince George (hidden) and her parents the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, at Thomas’s Battersea in London on September 5, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Charlotte is entering what the school calls a “reception year,” in which she will be encouraged to “play and explore; make choices and learn to have a go and persevere; be creative and solve problems; form good relationships; be safe, secure and happy.” She is entering a class of 21 students.
And Charlotte, like George, will be treated like the other kids at school. She won’t be known by any royal titles–she will use the name Charlotte Cambridge, in homage to her father’s title as the Duke of Cambridge (when William and Harry were in school, they went by William and Harry Wales, as father Prince Charles serves as the Duke of Wales).
“She can’t wait to be with George at big school,” a source told People. “She is so excited about it all.”
“They are close in age, and they spend so much time together,” they continued. “Playdates [with outsiders] can be tricky, so they learn to lean on each other.”
