Prince Harry ‘had it harder finding his way’ at Eton than William who was a star student, says old schoolmate
Prince Harry and Prince William are two very different people in terms of their personalities, who have had their own experiences while growing up. It has been said that the younger brother is more like his late mother, Lady Diana, while the Duke of Cambridge is more in the mould of his father, Prince Charles.
After completing their junior year at Jane Mynors’ nursery school in London, two years apart, the princes both went to Wetherby School and Ludgrove School. The brothers spent their teenage years at Eton College, an elite boarding school that has been attended by numerous wealthy and famous people. An old schoolmate, who also attended Eton College and graduated from it in 2004, has recounted how the two brothers had their unique experiences in school. The schoolmate identified only as Jim said William was a star student, but the Duke of Sussex struggled to fit in.
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Jim told The Cut, “William was very integrated. There’s this sort of society in your top year where if you’re kind of popular or beloved by teachers and boys alike you get voted into the Eton society, which is known as ‘Pop,’ and you got to choose your own waistcoat and wear special trousers. William was a Pop so he was like a homecoming-king type, but Harry wasn’t — I think Harry probably had it harder finding his way.”
He also explained how the princes were treated at school. “The attitude towards them was very matter of fact. The only thing that would really give it away is everyone gets a school calendar and list of all the boys in school, called Fixtures, and it’s this 300-page green booklet that tells you who all the boys are. If you were a lord you’d have a Mister before your name. The princes were HRH. It was funny though because no one gave a shit. I think both William and Harry were just called ‘Wales,’ literally that was what everyone else called them,” Jim added.
While another younger classmate named Alexander called how Harry was a “normal” kid. He noted: “Obviously he was from the royal family, but I think the school and all the people there wanted to make him feel included. He had normal friends; he used to go to people’s birthday parties. He used to go out with people in London and go to clubs. He had bodyguards but they’d kind of hang in the background and try and let him develop and grow up and live his life as much as possible. I think Eton as well has a tradition of having people there from aristocratic backgrounds, they’re kind of used to dealing with those people and making sure they are integrated properly.” About the school’s location, another schoolmate, Andrew, added, “Its literally a stone’s throw away from Windsor Castle, and every now and again the queen would turn up for something, and we thought, Oh, the queen’s here, thats pretty neat, we all got to stand and wave our little flags and shout three cheers for the queen.”