{"id":31608,"date":"2023-12-12T17:59:15","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T16:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=253288"},"modified":"2023-12-13T15:11:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T14:11:39","slug":"off-to-school-how-do-the-royal-family-educate-their-children","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/off-to-school-how-do-the-royal-family-educate-their-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Off to school: how do the royal family educate their children?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How should a young prince or princess be best prepared for their unique role? From private palace tutors to the school of hard knocks, each generation of royals has chosen new and different ways to educate their children <\/p>

By Jonny Wilkes\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 12 December 2023 at 16:59 PM<\/p>

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Beyond the ABCs and time tables, educating a young royal comes with unique challenges as they are prepared for a life of constant media scrutiny. They need to be prepared for their responsibilities as national ambassadors and, in the case of the heirs themselves, the burden of wearing the crown.<\/p>\n

Yet each generation of post-war Windsors has made bold moves away from centuries of traditional royal schooling. In fact, far from the private tutoring of the future Queen Elizabeth<\/a>, there have been calls by newspaper columnists for the newest arrival to date, Louis, to be sent to a public school.<\/p>\n

Much like many royal children before them, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret<\/a> received their education at home. Tutors were brought in to cover specialist subjects, but the core of their teaching was entrusted to their governess Marion Crawford, nicknamed \u201cCrawfie\u201d, under the supervision of their mother.<\/p>\n

Mornings covered history, language, literature and music before afternoons were spent on games, dancing and singing. While the dutiful Elizabeth showed a propensity for learning, home-schooling did not stretch her academically, although she now speaks fluent French and some German thanks to native speakers working at the palace.<\/p>\n

The young princess had not been expected to ascend to the throne, so it was only after the abdication of her uncle in 1936 that Elizabeth\u2019s education gained pace, with private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, vice-provost of Eton, and religious instruction by the archbishop of Canterbury.<\/p>\n

Margaret, however, was not privy to such lessons, and later in life she resented her lack of serious education. Still, Elizabeth never sat an exam or earned a formal qualification.<\/p>\n