Inside Prince William’s life at Eton, from his boujie halls to whether or not he had any friends

He was part of a prestigious prefect society with Eddie Redmayne


The second part of The Crown season six has dropped on Netflix, and at the start of the episodes we see a young Prince William settling into life at Eton, following the death of his mother, Diana.

During the show, we see members of the royal family questioning if Prince William has any friends at his fancy private school, because his father Charles apparently didn’t. Then, William is inundated with letters from fellow pupils offering their sympathies for his loss. We then see William involved in sports and societies alongside his studies.

So, what was Prince William really like at Eton, and what was his school life like?

Prince William at Eton College

William on his first day at Eton, via Shutterstock

Prince William lived at Manor House at Eton

Prince William studied at Eton college from 1995 to 2000, starting at the school when he was 13. Whilst there, he was able to study and socialise as normal, without the press having access to him. Eton charges an average of £46k per year (around £15k per term) for each student.

It had previously been royal tradition for members of the family to attend Gordonstoun boarding school in Scotland, as did King Charles, Prince Philip, Prince Edward, and Prince Andrew. However, Princess Diana opted to enrol William at Eton, where her father and brother had studied.

Manor House, via Maureen McLean/Shutterstock

Eton College has a number of huge houses, where students live with up to 50 others. Prince William stayed in Manor House, which would later house his brother Harry, when he too studied at Eton.

William had his own private room, with a large desk and computer, and a pin-board for all his notes.

Prince William at Eton College

via Shutterstock

On his 18th birthday, pictures were released of Prince William in his Eton home. He could be seen cooking in the kitchen, which had a hatch that opened onto a main, shared living space.

Prince William at Eton College

via Shutterstock

William was part of a prestigious Eton prefect society

Whilst at Eton, Prince William was one of the school’s 21 elected prefects, and was part of a prestigious prefect society called “Pop”. In the group with him were huge names such as actor Eddie Redmayne.

Prince William at Eton College

via Shutterstock

The results Prince William got at school were good, and he did sports too

Prince William was awarded 12 GCSEs and then three A-Levels – an A in Geography, a B in History of Art and a C in Biology. He also did a lot of extra-curricular activities and was into water polo, as well as being captain of the swimming team and the football team. William also played rugby, and actor Eddie Redmayne was his teammate.

Despite the jokes The Crown makes about his father, it looks as though William was popular at Eton, and had lots of different groups of friends because of his love of sports.

After he left the school he went on to study at the University of St Andrews, where he would later meet Kate Middleton.

The Crown season six is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

It gets brought up on The Crown, so what actually is the deal with the royals and swans?

 Who was Shay Leonard? The man who The Crown season six pays tribute to

• The Crown: Inside Dodi Fayed’s hugely successful career as a billionaire film producer