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Why Prince George won't be pictured on his first day at school this year

Prince William and Kate are expected to do the school run

prince george school day
Ainhoa Barcelona
Content Managing Editor
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Royal watchers may be disappointed to hear that it's unlikely Kensington Palace will release any official portraits of Prince George starting school this year. George, five, goes back to school on Thursday, and while his first day of Reception was captured by photographers last year, press have not been invited to cover this week's event. HELLO!'s royal correspondent Emily Nash explains: "Prince George's time at school is private and although the Duke and Duchess shared an image from his first day at primary school last year, they won't do it every year."

Just like his time at nursery in Norfolk, William and Kate chose to release a set of portraits of George attending his first day at Westacre Montessori in January 2016, but didn't release any official photos in subsequent years. Royal tradition seems to dictate that children are pictured on their very first day of school, but aren't photographed in following years. There are only a handful of photos of Prince William and Prince Harry from their school days.

Relive Prince George's first day of school:

But royal watchers need not despair. The next time George and Charlotte are expected to be seen in an official capacity is next month on Friday 12 October, when they attend Princess Eugenie's wedding in Windsor. Although not confirmed, there is speculation that George and three-year-old Princess Charlotte will act as a pageboy and bridesmaid, just like they did for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big day in May. Their baby sibling Prince Louis is too young to take part but it's likely he will be nearby on the day with his mum Kate.

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prince george official school portriat

Kensington Palace released an official portrait of Prince George last year

George is a pupil at Thomas's Battersea and on Thursday he will be starting Year One. His first day back may be a little scary – meeting a new teacher and settling into a new classroom, but some things will remain the same, such as his school uniform, his classmates and his friends. In Reception, George dabbled with French, Computing, Art, Music, Drama and Ballet, but the new year will introduce additional subjects such as Science, History, Geography, Maths, English and PE. The Prince will also be given more homework each night – ten minutes of reading.

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prince george handshake first day school

George will start Year One of Thomas's Battersea this week

Whilst at reception, George will have moved through a variety of handwriting stages, which included drawing, writing scribbles and random letters, he will now be expected to learn how to do joined-up writing. The school curriculum also states that Year One pupils will be taught the days of the week, months of the year, numbers to twenty, common colour words, their names and addresses as well as the name and address of the school.

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