Prince George celebrated his 10th birthday on July 22. The royals tend to keep birthday celebrations private and, according to an expert, the same went for George’s birthday. But while he is spending the day with his loved ones, it appears that an old tradition that goes back to the days Diana celebrated her son’s birthdays is still very active, although William might not be a big fan of it.
While the royals came together and sent their best wishes to Prince George, some weren’t at the celebration. As Harry and Meghan live in the US, they naturally weren’t in attendance.
Still, when Lilibet turned two, King Charles reportedly sent his beloved granddaughter a gift across the Atlantic. But it appears Harry – and Meghan – had no interest in wishing his nephew a happy birthday from what the public could see.
Prince George was born on July 22, 2013. Of course, the little prince had huge media interest, and his birth was celebrated throughout the entire Commonwealth.
George started school at the Westacre Montessori School in Norfolk in early January 2016. He then transferred to Thomas’s Battersea School in September 2017, but as of this semester, the future king has gotten new classmates.
Prince George
At the end of August last year, William and Kate announced that their kids were moving from their London schools to Lambrook School in Windsor. It was a natural step for the future king and his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, as they all moved to Adelaide Cottage at the Windsor Castle grounds.
It isn’t just any school the royal children are now attending. Lambrook has a tradition of royal pupils. In fact, two of Queen Victoria’s grandsons, Prince Christian Victor and Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein, were also students there.
Lambrook has many activities for the children, including a 42-acre cricket ground, rugby and football pitches, an art building, and even a golf course. The fact that it’s located only a 15-minute walk from George, Charlotte, and Louis’s home makes it even more convenient.
It should go without saying that Lambrook is a prominent school with a high tuition of £21,000 a year. Of course, the Royal Family can afford the expense, but that doesn’t mean William and Kate want their children to become spoiled.
At Lambrook, if pupils want to go on a school trip, they have to raise the money themselves and not get it from their parents. It’s those values that the Prince and Princess of Wales want to instill in their children growing up, thus helping to keep them grounded.
While at the school, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis can engage in various activities, including joining the debate team, horse riding, and caring for the school’s pigs and chickens.
“They want them to know how lucky they are.”
According to royal expert Jennie Bond, Prince William and Princess Kate want their children’s lives to be “as normal as possible.”
“They want George, Charlotte, and Louis to be very aware of the privileged way in which they are growing up. Have a proper sense of empathy, charity, and responsibility,” she told OK! Magazine.
“It’s very much the Diana style of parenting. They want them to know how lucky they are and not take any of it for granted.”
Just weeks ago, Prince William announced his five-year campaign to end homelessness in the UK. At the time, he spoke about his children and how he’s trying to make them aware that they are very privileged.
“When I left this morning, one of the things I was thinking was, ‘When is the right time to bring George or Charlotte or Louis to a homeless organization?’ I think when I can balance it with their schooling, they will definitely be exposed to it,” he told The Times.
“On the school run, we talk about what we see. When we were in London, driving backwards and forwards, we regularly used to see people sitting outside supermarkets, and we’d talk about it.”
While some students live on campus, George, Charlotte, and Louis attend classes during the day and head back home in the afternoon.
The prince might be enjoying his time at Lambrook, but as a future king, his education will take another turn in a few years. Some weeks ago, George was spotted alongside his parents looking around Eton College. Both Prince William and Prince Harry attended the prestigious boarding school in the past.
Eton’s tuition is around £46,000 ($59,000) a year. Though Prince George won’t join the school until he turns 13, children have to be registered for the school during the year that they turn 10, according to the school’s website.
Prince George celebrates his 10th birthday
Prince George may only ben ten years of age, but his parents are slowly letting him know what his future will hold. He has been seen attending several royal duties with his parents and has been given the opportunity to practice his waving technique towards members of the public from the horse carriage several times while passing through the streets of London.
But in the end, it’s also important to remember that he is a child. Even though he is born into a world that includes nannies, a lot of money, and special treatment, he does everything any child loves. That said, the royals keep birthday celebrations private and do not disclose details.
“They’ve always been intensely secretive and private about his birthday,” royal commentator Duncan Larcombe told Fox. “They’ve never released anything… in terms of a birthday party, and what they do is shrouded in secrecy.”
“We are starting to see [George] a lot more in public these days, but they’re still very keen on keeping him private property rather than public property,” he added.
“His parents have been incredibly hands-on, and they’ve followed a very similar upbringing Kate would have had with two siblings, a close-knit family. They’re focusing very much on the value of the family. They’ve built quite a unique family unit.”
We are sure George was given a grand birthday celebration on July 22, spending the day with his loved ones and enjoying presents and even a cake. Even though they certainly have their own chefs, their mother always prepares the birthday cake.
“I love making the cake,” Kate revealed on A Berry Royal Christmas in 2019. “It’s become a bit of a tradition that I stay up ’til midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing, and I make far too much. But I love it.”
New picture of Prince George
Prince George has had quite an eventful year, as he is now done with his first year at Lambrook. He was a Page of Honor at his grandfather’s coronation and visited many unique places. Moreover, he got to watch the Wimbledon tennis final from the royal box – and even received an early birthday present as he got to sit in the cockpit of a C-17 transport aircraft at an airshow at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
As the tradition goes, when the royal children celebrate their birthday, a new picture of them is usually posted by the Palace. Usually, Princess Kate has been the one taking the photos of her children, but this time, Millie Pilkington took the portrait of the young prince. She also took the photo on Prince Louis’ fifth birthday earlier this year.
The new photograph of a smiling Prince George was taken at Windsor, sitting on a set of steps and wearing a checked shirt and trousers. Reports suggest that some birthday celebrations included football, as it is his, and his father, Prince William’s, most significant interest.
George will likely receive many thoughtful gifts from his parents, grandfather King Charles and Queen Camilla, and his father’s cousin Zara Tindall. Moreover, Julia Samuel, one of Princess Diana’s closest friends, loves giving him and his siblings gifts.
Speaking on the podcast How To Fail back in 2020, Samuel revealed that she is keeping one of Princess Diana’s classic birthday traditions alive.
Prince George upholds Diana’s birthday tradition
She now upholds one charming tradition on George’s birthday; buying him an “impossible toy” – which takes days for his father to assemble.
“I do to George what [Diana] did to us, which is give impossible toys that are really noisy and take a lot of making,” Julia Samuel said. “William then has to spend days putting together. And then put all the machinery together, and it makes awful tooting noises and lights flashing and all of that.”
Samuel added that William struggled for days, which brought the rest of the family great pleasure, especially “cheeky” George.
“[It] makes [her] laugh, and it makes George laugh,” Julia added, saying that George is one “amazing” boy.
She states that Diana would’ve loved her grandson dearly.
“He’s funny and feisty and cheeky, and God [Diana] would have loved him so much,” Julia Samuel added. “That is heartbreaking for all of them.”
Royal family members all took to social media to wish Prince George a happy birthday.
The official Instagram and Twitter pages reposted the newly taken photo of the birthday boy.
“Happy Birthday to Prince George!” the post was captioned, along with a birthday cake emoji, which also appeared on the Royal Family’s official Instagram.
But some didn’t wish him a happy birthday, at least not what the public could see. Harry and Meghan stayed silent on social media for George’s big day. However, it’s not known whether the Duke and Duchess sent George birthday wishes privately on Saturday.
Harry & Meghan stay silent for Prince George’s birthday
While some might argue that the couple should have posted on their social media to congratulate the young prince, it should be known that no royal has posted any birthday messages to Harry and Meghan’s children, Archie and Lilibet, in the last few years. King Charles, for example, didn’t do it for Lilibet’s second birthday in early June, but reports stated that he sent her a special gift instead.
In his book Spare, Harry wrote a passage about the day he became George’s uncle. It was a day of joy – but also a day when his relationship with his brother, William, and Princess Kate changed forever.
Harry claimed he was shut out and “never invited” by William and Kate after George was born. He dreamed about popping into William and Kate’s, hanging out with George, and “throwing himself on the floor” to wrestle with his nephew.
The reality, according to the Duke, was completely different.
“I took it for granted that I would be invited to their house at any moment. But the days went by, and it didn’t happen,” Harry wrote in Spare. “I understand, I thought. They’re busy! Building a family! Or maybe… three’s a crowd. Maybe if I get married things will change.”
The fact that Harry wrote about Prince George in his book might mean trouble, according to the Daily Express’s royal expert Angela Epstein. She claimed he might have “overlooked the damage he could do” to George.
“So given the way tragedy arced his young life, surely Harry’s concern for his own nephew, George, would be a matter of auto-fill. As the doting and fun-loving uncle, Harry has always displayed affection for his brother’s three young children,” Epstein said.
“So the possibility that George, as second in line to the throne, could be harmed in any way by the Duke’s rage against the monarchy should surely be a concern to him.”
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