Prince George Reaches Important Boarding School Milestone with First Exeat Weekend Away from Eton College
Just one month after his milestone enrollment at Eton College on September 8, Prince George has marked his first scheduled term break by returning home to his family for the weekend. According to Eton’s official academic calendar, students observed their first “short leave” of the Michaelmas term from October 2 to October 4. The scheduled exeat permits full boarders to depart school grounds on Friday afternoon and spend quality time with relatives before returning on Sunday evening.
For the 13-year-old heir, returning home involved a minimal commute. Eton College sits merely a few miles from Forest Lodge in Windsor, where the Prince and Princess of Wales established their primary family residence last year. The weekend provided George with a comforting reunion alongside Prince William, Princess Kate, and younger siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. While October marked the first formal short leave of the academic calendar, George may also have utilized Eton’s optional “B Weekend” on September 19–20 to visit home after finishing Saturday commitments.
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George’s close proximity to family mirrors the formative Eton years of his father, Prince William, who attended the elite institution between 1995 and 2000. As a 13-year-old coping with the public breakdown of his parents’ marriage, William regularly crossed the river to Windsor Castle for tea, cake, and quiet counsel with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. According to royal historians, those informal weekend sessions proved vital in nurturing William’s emotional resilience while allowing the late monarch and Duke of Edinburgh to subtly mentor him for his future constitutional destiny.
While continuing royal educational heritage, William and Kate, both 44, have adopted a markedly hands-on parenting model distinct from earlier royal generations raised by governesses. Prioritizing everyday family normalcy over ceremonial engagements—with the blessing of Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III—the couple has built a modern domestic foundation. Princess Kate’s background outside aristocratic confines has been pivotal in this transformation, ensuring that the young royals enjoy daily parental engagement and an authentic childhood experience.