Lady Louise Windsor recently
revealed her exciting university plans for the new academic year, but the
young royal will not be following in the footsteps of many extended family
members as several royal family members skipped university altogether.
Prince
Harry
Prince Harry did not follow in
his older brother’s footsteps and chose not to gain his degree. The 37-year-old
began his education at Wetherby School and Ludgrove School and like his
brother, he graduated from Eton.
Rather than packing his bags
for university, the doting father chose to complete ten months of officer
commissioning training at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst instead.
Harry served in the Army for
ten years, rising to the rank of Captain and undertaking two tours of
Afghanistan. He continues to work in support of his fellow servicemen,
promoting support for wounded men and women as they adapt to life post-injury.
The
Queen
Her Majesty the Queen,
alongside her sister Margaret, was privately educated within palace walls by
governess Marion Crawford where they learned history, language, literature and
music.
Her Royal Highness, who is
fluent in French, began studying independently of her sister in 1936, when her
father became king. The then Princess received private tuition in
constitutional history from Eton College’s Vice-Provost, Henry Marten, as she
prepared for her future role as monarch.
Both the Queen and Margaret were the last of the royal family to be educated at home.
Princess
Diana
Despite the late Princess
of Wales failing her O-levels, she made a major change to education
in the royal family as she decided that Prince William and Prince Harry
were to have an ordinary upbringing and thus, the brothers were the first
royals to be educated within the public school system.
The Princess was just 19 when
she married into the royal family and therefore had university been on the
cards, she would have not been able to attend. Diana was initially
home-schooled by her governess, Gertrude Allen, but later began her formal
education at Silfield Private School, followed by Riddlesworth Hall, an all-girls
boarding school near Thetford, when she was nine.
In 1973, she joined West Heath
Girls’ School in Sevenoaks, Kent, where she failed her O-Levels twice.
Princess
Margaret
The Queen’s sister, Princess
Margaret, was, like Her Majesty, privately tutored and did not attend
university. She too learned French and up until 1936, the pair were tutored
together. When their father King George took over the throne, they were split
up for their studies. Margaret was known for her love of the arts and also
learned piano from the age of four.
Princess
Anne
Passionate equestrian Princess
Anne chose not to attend university and explained her reasoning in the
documentary, Anne: The Princess Royal at 70. She explained: “So many of my
contemporaries, when asked why they were going to university, would say, ‘Well
basically because that’s what you do.’
She continued: “And I
remember thinking really that doesn’t sound like a very good reason to go
university, so I thought I would skip that. But I also thought that I might
have the opportunity to travel with Her Majesty on her tours. I did Geography
A-level so, for me, it made more sense.” The Princess has six O-Levels and
two A-Levels from Benenden School, an independent boarding school for girls in
Kent.
