James Middleton reflects on Marlborough as Prince George considers schools

James Middleton has voiced criticism of Marlborough College, the boarding school he and his sister, the Princess of Wales, both attended. 

The prestigious institution is reportedly being considered by Kate and William as a potential school for Prince George, alongside Eton, where the Prince of Wales studied, reported GB News.

James said regarding Marlborough: “Perhaps my criticism was that it was too focused on what one would call success, or being the best, or the top.

“So it’s all about the best grades, the top of the class, the top teams.”

However, James also said that Marlborough was a “fantastic” school and he was lucky to have gone there.

James said there were eight different teams in all of the sports played at Marlborough but that it was “only really the first teams that ever got spoken about.”

“I was never in the first teams. My sisters were, and they did very well and it worked fantastically for them in how they operated.

“But for me, it wasn’t like that. I was dragging at the bottom.

“It was a shame, in a way, that some of the things that I found challenging in my life were not picked up then.

“Because I think that could have gone on to help me manage myself, my own expectations, a bit further down the line, so perhaps not allow me to go where I went to because I would have felt more accepted, not felt like perhaps a failure.”

In 2023, Prince George and his parents visited Marlborough College, where he could potentially cross paths with one of his mother’s former teachers.

Louise Moelwyn-Hughes, 53, who taught Kate Middleton Latin and classics during her GCSEs, is now the head of the school. 

Choosing Marlborough, a co-educational institution, for George would also pave the way for his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, to attend alongside him. 

Currently, all three young royals are enrolled at Lambrook, a co-educational day prep school.