Schooling doesn't come cheap for the Prince and Princess of Wales' children. As Prince George prepares to begin the next phase of his education at Eton College, the renowned boarding school's fees alone are expected to total hundreds of thousands of pounds.
But when it comes to educating a child, The Good Schools Guide's Consultancy Director Grace Moody-Stuart believes you can't "put a price on education," no matter who you are.
"Every parent wants to educate their child as best they possibly can within the means that they've got, so I defy you to find any parent who just goes, 'Oh no, education doesn't matter,'" Grace tells HELLO!. "So, I don't think you can put a price. It is expensive, but you know, elsewhere in the world it's more expensive, and plenty of parents are making huge sacrifices to do exactly what they're doing. I'm sure they're going to be making some sacrifices in doing it too.
"I don't think you can put a price on education. If you can afford it, you want the best, and that doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive."
Private school from the start
Since their children were toddlers, Prince William and Catherine have opted for private schools, starting in 2016 with Westacre Montessori School for Prince George, which at the time cost £33 (about $43.52) a day to attend, as well as the £14,500 (about $19,121.80)-a-year Willcocks Nursery School for Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. George and Charlotte later attended Thomas's Battersea, before all three siblings enrolled at Lambrook School near their Windsor home.
When Prince George began at Thomas's Battersea in 2017, term fees were £6,385 (about $8,420.19) and rose to £7,520 (about $9,916.36) when he started middle school there. Princess Charlotte joined her big brother at the school in 2020. Because she was the second child from the same family at Thomas's Battersea, she had a sibling discount fee of £6,560 per term, or about $8,650.44.
However, the two moved to a new school in 2022. Less than two weeks before their first day, Kensington Palace announced in a statement: "Their Royal Highnesses are hugely grateful to Thomas's Battersea where George and Charlotte have had a happy start to their education since 2017 and 2019 respectively and are pleased to have found a school for all three of their children which shares a similar ethos and values."
George, Charlotte and Louis all began at Lambrook School on the same day their great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth died.
Term fees at Lambrook vary by grades, with Louis' tuition estimated in 2022 to be around £13,167 (about $17,362.86), Charlotte's at £19,344 (about $25,508.26), and George's at approximately £20,997 (about $27,688.01), bringing the family's education bill that year to approximately £53,508, or around $70,559.13. In 2025, the Wales kids' annual fees at Lambrook increased with the government's 20 percent VAT on private schools.
© Getty ImagesEton for George
After the 2025/2026 academic year, William and Catherine will be left with just two children at Lambrook. Charlotte and Louis will continue at the school, while George heads off to boarding school at Eton in September. After much speculation, Kensington Palace confirmed in June 2026 that George will follow in his father's footsteps, studying at the prestigious all-boys school.
For the 2025/2026 academic year, each term at Eton cost £21,099.60 (about $27,823.30), meaning one year, comprised of three terms, ran £63,298.80 (about $83,469.91). Like his father, George will be 13 when he begins at the school and is expected to attend for five years. If fees remain unchanged, the Prince and Princess of Wales will spend approximately £316,494, or about $417,889.18, on their firstborn's education at Eton alone.
© Jeff Spicer/Getty ImagesFuture schools for Charlotte and Louis
Meanwhile, a private co-ed school is a possible contender for Princess Charlotte in the future. Melanie Sanderson, managing editor of The Good Schools Guide, previously said in an episode of HELLO!'s A Right Royal Podcast: "I've been told Wellington is a possible school for Princess Charlotte."
The annual fee for the Princess of Wales' alma mater, Marlborough College, is currently, £64,035 (about $84,439.75). Should Charlotte one day attend and board at her mother's former school, William and Catherine would spend approximately £256,140 (about $337,759.01) over four years.
As for whether Louis will follow in his brother's footsteps to Eton or attend the co-ed Marlborough College, remains to be seen, but it would be an additional couple hundred thousand pounds.
Education is a pricey "priority" for Prince William
Altogether, George, Charlotte and Louis' secondary education could top three quarters of a million pounds, or over $900,000, with the Wales family's total education bill potentially climbing to over £1 million by the time all three kids finish college, if they choose to pursue undergraduate degrees like their mom and dad did.
While his kids' education is pricey, it's a priority for Prince William. Speaking in 2024 about his children's future royal roles, the dad-of-three remarked, "Family-wise, you'll have to wait a little bit longer because obviously they're at school and I think that takes priority over everything else."
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