September is here and summer break is officially over for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s three kids. (Womp, womp!) While Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, are, no doubt, sad about going back to school, their parents might be feeling emotional for a different reason.
The royal siblings had their first day of school this morning, Sept. 3, per PEOPLE, and it marked an important milestone: the last year all three kids will be at the exact same school together!
Related story
Royal Insiders Expect Princess Charlotte To Take Part in a Time-Honored Mother-Daughter Tradition When She’s Older
The kids go to Lambrook School, where George is in Year 8, Charlote is in Year 6, and Louis is in Year 3. As traditional for royals and other wealthy British families, when George turns 13 and prepares for Year 9 next year, he will leave his co-educational prep school and go to a boarding school for boys. This will likely be Eton College, which is William’s alma mater.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – SEPTEMBER 5: Princess Charlotte, hide behind her mother the Duchess of Cambridge as she arrives for her first day at school, with her brother Prince George and her father the Duke of Cambridge at Thomas’s Battersea in London on September 5, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Aaron Chown – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Royal author Sally Bedell recently told PEOPLE that the royal siblings’ schooling reflects “William wanting to do things in a more modern way, putting all three children in the same school.” She added, “It’s a new direction — groundbreaking for the royal family.”
Despite this last first day of school with his siblings milestone George had, we likely won’t see any official pictures like we have before. That’s because the Prince and Princess of Wales tend to only be photographed on their kids’ first day of school, such as Princess Charlotte’s first day at Thomas’s Battersea in 2019, the kids’ previous prep school in London, and Louis’s first day at Lambrook in 2022.
The royals will still be involved in the school, often doing pickups and drop-offs.
“The Prince and Princess of Wales are regulars on the school run, and we learnt that when Kate was undergoing cancer treatment last year, William planned his diary of engagements around the children’s school pick-up and drop-off times,” royal correspondent Danielle Stacey told Hello!
Earlier this year, insiders revealed that Middleton is very involved with her kids schooling. Alisa Anderson, former press secretary for Queen Elizabeth, said in a documentary, Prince George: How to Make a Monarch, “Apparently Catherine has a WhatsApp group where she communicates with other parents, so it’s very much quite a normal upbringing.”
Can you imagine having a group chat with a princess?!
It all goes to show how involved William and Kate are in their kids’ lives and schooling. It’s going to be so emotional when the younger royal siblings are separated from their older brother next year!
Before you go, check out every time Prince Louis had his big sister in his corner.