Prince George starts first day of school, picks new name

Prince George attended his first day of school on Thursday with a new chosen name. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s firstborn will be called a lot shorter than his official title and name, His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge.

As the 4-year-old future king is British royalty, he does not need a surname to go along with it. However, he, or rather his parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton, can choose one for him when he is required to present one. They can either give him the royal surname of Mountbatten Windsor or Cambridge, taken from William’s title.

And they chose to go with Cambridge, according to The Mirror. The little tyke has been registered as George Cambridge at Thomas’s Battersea, a £17,604 (AU$28,504) a year-school in south London.

George Cambridge’s first day

The young prince started his school on Thursday, with William accompanying him. His mother, who was recently announced to be pregnant with their third child and again suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum (or extreme morning sickness), was noticeably absent.

George, in his navy uniform, was greeted by lower school head Helen Haslam before entering the facility. According to his dad, his first day “went well.”

The Mirror reports that William was heard making the comments at a reception for the England Under-20 football team, hours after he dropped George at school. He reportedly even joked that he was pleased another parent had problems with their children rather than him.

The school has upstanding reputation when it comes to quality of education. However, if George thought he would find a best friend there, he might be mistaken, according to “Loose Women” panellist Jane Moore.

Moore, who claimed she had “insider knowledge,” said the school did not allow their pupils to have best friends. The reason behind the rule was kindness, though.

“It’s a school that really expects parental involvement. The parents are heavily involved in the school so [William and Kate] will be as well,” she said. When the panel noted that many students would want to befriend the prince, she revealed that George would be discouraged by the school to make best friends.

“There’s a policy that if your child is having a party, unless every child in the class is invited, you don’t give out the invites in class, which I think is quite good as you don’t feel excluded,” she explained. “There are signs everywhere saying be kind, that’s the ethos of the school. They don’t encourage you to have best friends.”

George is the first child of the Duke and Duchess. He has a sister, 2-year-old Princess Charlotte, and another sibling on the way.