Prince George heads home for first Eton weekend break
Prince George has headed home from school for a weekend break, one month after starting as a boarder at Eton College.
The 13-year-old, eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales and second in line to the throne, spent 2 to 4 October on “short leave”, Eton’s name for the first full weekend away during the autumn term, according to Hello!. The break came almost four weeks after he arrived for his first day.
George arrived at the Berkshire school on 8 September with his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales. His official first-day photograph in uniform was taken by Matt Porteous. Kensington Palace, the office that speaks for the couple, had confirmed in June that he would attend Eton from September 2026, as reported by Reuters.
He is boarding at Eton. That means he sleeps at the school during term time rather than at the family home, Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park. He is following his father, Prince William, who also attended the school.
Eton is a 600-year-old boarding secondary school for boys aged 13 to 18, according to Reuters. Boys live in 25 different houses, each with its own house master and pastoral team. New pupils join in the first year, known at Eton as F Year.
Leave weekends are built into the calendar. Eton held an optional “B Weekend” on 19 and 20 September, when boys could leave after Saturday commitments and had to return by 6.15pm on Sunday. The 2 to 4 October weekend was the first “short leave”. Half term later in October is called “long leave”.
Classroom life looks different from his father’s day. Eton first issued iPads to all new boys for learning in 2019. From 2026, first-year pupils can only use a specially designed safe browser on those iPads, which limits access to a teacher-approved list of websites.
People reported on 5 October on his first weekend home since starting boarding school. InStyle also noted the one-month milestone.
What makes this stand out for watchers is how ordinary the machinery is. No statement. No ceremony. Just the school calendar turning to a leave weekend and a 13-year-old going home.
