Prince Harry, Prince William’s school days were anything but royal, ex-classmates reveal

Prince William and Prince Harry may have royalty running through their veins but when it came to their education, the brothers' had anything but a regal experience. 

An old school mate of William and Harry has recalled how the two brothers were while attending Eton and whether or not they got any royal treatment.

Jim was quoted by The Cut, dishing details about the two. “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,” he said.

“William was a Pop so he was like a homecoming-king type, but Harry wasn’t,” he added.

“I think Harry probably had it harder finding his way. 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,” he said.

“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,” he went on to say.

Another schoolmate of the Duke of Sussex, Alexander recalled: “Harry was a couple of years above me, I think. They made a big effort to seem like he was a normal person. 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,” he said.

Andrew, another one of their mates, remembered how Queen Elizabeth II too often showed up at school for her grandkids.

“It’s 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, that’s pretty neat’.”