Like George, William’s choice to attend Eton in 1995 made global news. On his first day of school, television broadcasters, photographers, and reporters stood outside steel barriers to watch Prince Charles and Princess Diana (then separated) drop off their eldest son. William arrived in front of the ivy-covered buildings wearing a tweed jacket and gray trousers. A team of 19 protection officers were housed across the campus. Three years later, Prince Harry joined him.
Both donned Eton’s traditional uniform, a black tailcoat and waistcoat, pinstripe trousers, winged collar and white bow tie. (The formality of the clothing puzzled even Prince Harry, who was no stranger to pomp and circumstance: “I didn’t even know how to get dressed in the morning,” he wrote in his memoir, Spare.)
Their structured days started with full English breakfasts at 7:30 a.m. followed by chapel. Classes began at nine and ended at five on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays, meanwhile, were half days, with afternoons often spent playing sports. Prince William was part of the water polo team and also played rugby—although it was a rough choice for the young royal. “I always felt a bit sorry for him, because basically any school you played, all they wanted to do was tackle Prince William and they could say, ‘I tackled Prince William,’” said actor Eddie Redmayne, who played on the Eton rugby team along with William. Prince Harry, meanwhile, was a football midfielder.
Despite being students together, Harry says that he and William barely interacted at Eton. In fact, he believed that William felt frustrated with his presence, noting that when he arrived his older brother largely ignored him. “Eton had been his sanctuary. No kid brother tagging along, pestering him with questions, pushing up on his social circle. He was forging his own life, and he wasn’t willing to give that up,” he wrote in Spare.
William thrived at Eton, achieving advanced levels in History of Art, Geography and Biology. (He would later major in Geography at St. Andrews, where he met his future wife, Kate Middleton.) He became a prefect and, as a result, was part of an elite Eton society known as “Pop” where members could wear colorfully patterned waistcoats under their black tailcoats. By his own admission, Harry struggled. While at Eton, tabloid stories broke that he was experimenting with drugs, causing a public relations storm in the process. And unlike his brother, he did not get chosen to be a “Pop.”
“The criteria to be picked are that you must be popular, responsible and of mature character. William was extremely popular and a deserving choice. Harry’s also popular,” a source told The Evening Standard at the time. “But basically he is seen as a bit of a naughty boy. Harry had set his heart on getting in. But there is a stigma attached to his name over the drugs business.” After graduation, he found his footing in the army.
Throughout their school years at Eton, the royal family released a number of portraits of the young princes coming of age. Below, a visual history of Prince Harry and Prince William at Eton.