18 February 2024 , 23:00
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The Prince and Princess of Wales are reportedly considering sending Prince George to a school costing £34,000 a year - amid fears that the £47,000-a-year Marlborough, attended by Kate, has become 'too flashy'.
According to reports, the pair have added Oundle School to their top choices for the future monarch. The school shares values close to green campaigner King Charles' heart, as it's known for its efforts towards environmental sustainablity.
The couple's search for the best school has already seen them visit their own former schools – William's Eton and Kate's Marlborough College. But Oundle, which sits in the middle of the quaint market town of Oundle, in Northamptonshire, is rumoured to be a frontrunner.
The £34,000-a-year co-educational school dates back to 1556 but boasts a modern ethos. Its website reads: "We have a responsibility to ensure that every single member of the school community takes both individual and collective action towards environmental sustainability.
"We encourage aspiration and abhor arrogance, nurturing open minds, authentic self-belief and a sense of service. We believe that boarding offers the best environment within which to realise these educational ambitions, with day pupils involved fully in the breadth offered by such an education."
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Oundle school would cost £34,000 a year (Getty Images)
Reports say Kate wants a school that will keep her children grounded (UK Press via Getty Images)In December, George, then 10, his mum and dad visited the posh Marlborough school, where Kate's brother and sister, James and Pippa, also went. It's thought that the young prince had already been assigned a special 'house' and a housemaster if he decides to go there.
But there are concerns that Marlborough has become 'too flashy’ as it's become a top choice for super-rich families since the Middletons previously attended.
A source said: "The 2024 version of Marlborough may be quite different from how Kate remembers it. It's become a little more jet-set. Lots of parents have villas in Ibiza, chalets in Verbier or a private jet, which isn't Kate's style. She prefers understated wealth."
All of the Waleses' children could end up enrolling to the co-educational school, an arrangement their security team is said to prefer.
William was at first keen to have George go to Eton, where he himself studied as a child. The school is just a few miles from Windsor, but it is for boys only. The family are reportedly thinking about whether George would be comfortable boarding at Oundle from age 11. A source said: "Kate wants a school that suits all of her children and keeps them grounded."