Why William and Kate will keep secret about Prince George until the ‘11th hour’

Prince George is second in line to be the King of England after his father, Prince William, who will become the new ruling monarch when King Charles III passes away.

But, before he even thinks about taking the throne, George will have to get through another major change - and that's heading off to high school.

The 12-year-old is set to make the move to secondary school in September 2026, but it is currently unknown which school he will attend.

The two frontrunners for the accolade are Prince William and Prince Harry's old stomping ground, Eton College, and Marlborough College in Berkshire, his mother's alma mater.

One expert believes William and Kate will keep their choice of school for the young prince a secret until the last minute... And their theory is pretty understandable.

Melanie Sanderson, Managing Editor of The Good Schools Guide, told HELLO!: "If the Wales family runs true to form, they will announce Prince George's secondary school at the eleventh hour, possibly as late as September 2026.

An expert believes Prince George's choice of secondary school will be kept under wraps until the last minute (JACK TAYLOR/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

"They understand that the school itself, as well as George's new peer group, will fall under intense scrutiny as soon as it is revealed and will probably want to minimise this, allowing the young royal to transition to his new school with as little fanfare as possible."

She continued by sharing her prediction for the school he's most likely to attend.

"I believe Eton is the most likely choice for Prince George," Sanderson said. "In our most recent review, we describe it as 'traditional, radical, expectation-busting and packed with confident boys with nary a hint of entitlement'.

"To me, this encompasses all the values we are told are important to this generation of royals."

George's secondary school choice being under wraps for the foreseeable future would follow a pattern of William and Kate's previous statements about their children's education.

The young prince will head off to secondary school in September 2026 (Tim Clayton/Getty Images)

In 2022, following a move from London to Windsor, they announced that George, Charlotte and Louis would be attending Lambrook School just two weeks before the school term started.

Regardless of where the young prince ends up, the couple may need to compromise on the decision they made to withhold smartphones from their children.

The Prince of Wales spoke about this when in Brazil for the Earthshot Prize awards recently, saying: "It's really hard. Our children don't have phones. I think when George moves on to secondary school, then maybe he might have a phone that has no internet access."

He added: "To be honest, it's getting to the point where it's becoming a little bit of a tense issue. But I think he understands. I think it's the internet access I have a problem with.

"I think children can access too much stuff they don't need to see online."