Confirmed: Prince George, 13, started at Eton College on 8 September 2026, boarding full-time, after four years at Lambrook School, while Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, 8, remained at Lambrook for the new school year, according to People. Reported, with attribution: for 2026/27, Eton College’s own fees page states £21,891 per Half (term) including VAT — £65,673 a year across three Halves — and Lambrook’s day fees for 2026/27 are listed by Talk Education at £7,004 to £11,176 per term depending on year group, with Schoolsmith stating that Lambrook’s fees include VAT and lunches. Not confirmed: the family’s actual bill. No school and no palace spokesperson has published what William and Kate pay, and the combined total in this article is transparent arithmetic from the published bands, flagged as such. Every figure below carries its source, and conflicting figures are shown as conflicting.
The move: Lambrook ends, Eton begins
George, Charlotte and Louis began at Lambrook School together in September 2022, following the family’s move from London to Windsor, People reported. Lambrook is a co-educational independent prep school for boys and girls aged 3 to 13, near Ascot in Berkshire, set in 52 acres of Berkshire countryside, according to Schoolsmith and the school’s own description reproduced in directories.
On 8 September 2026, William and Kate took George to Eton College, where the headmaster, Simon Henderson, greeted him with “Welcome, good luck, enjoy it,” People reported. George, who turned 13 in July 2026, entered as an F Block (Year 9) pupil and boarder, following his father, who attended Eton from 1995 to 2000. Charlotte and Louis returned to Lambrook when its autumn term started on 9 September 2026, People reported, so for the first time the three siblings are at different schools. From September 2026 the family’s schooling bill is an Eton bill for one child plus a Lambrook bill for two — not three Lambrook bills, as it was until the summer of 2026.
Lambrook fees 2026/27: the table, with sources
Lambrook’s day fees per term for 2026/27, as listed by Talk Education, are:
| Year group | Day fee per term (Talk Education, 2026/27) |
|---|---|
| Nursery | £5,918 |
| Reception, Year 1, Year 2 | £7,004 |
| Year 3, Year 4 | £10,270 |
| Year 5, Year 6, Year 7, Year 8 | £11,176 |
Schoolsmith gives the same range — fees “from £7,004 (Rec) to £11,176 per term (2026/27)” — and states: “Fees include VAT and lunches.” The Good Schools Guide summarises the same position as “Day £21,012 – £33,528 pa,” exactly £7,004 × 3 and £11,176 × 3. The three sources are consistent. Lambrook School’s own published fee schedule for 2026/27 (“Fees for the Academic Year 2026-2027, Michaelmas Term”) gives the same bands — Reception–Year 2 £7,004, Years 3–4 £10,270, Years 5–8 £11,176, all including relevant VAT except Nursery — confirming the figures above.
One oddity in the table needs stating: the Nursery figure (£5,918) does not apply to any of the Wales children in 2026/27.
Boarding at Lambrook is separate from the day fee. Talk Education states: “Weekly boarding is available for pupils in years 3 to 8; charges for weekly boarding are £50.40 per night.” Schoolsmith describes Lambrook as a day and boarding school with boarding from Year 3, all weekly or flexi boarders. Lambrook boarding is charged by the night on top of the day fee — not a single all-in boarding fee as at Eton. How often George boarded at Lambrook is not confirmed: Prince William was reported in May 2026 as saying on Heart radio, “George was boarding last night.” That establishes at least one night.
Eton fees 2026/27: one fee, because every boy boards
Eton College’s own fees page states, in terms:
“£21,891 per Half (term) including VAT. There are three Halves (terms) in an academic year: Michaelmas, Lent and Summer.”
That is £65,673 per academic year (£21,891 × 3), a figure Oppidan Education’s 2026/27 fee table also gives for Eton boarding: “£21,891” per term and “£65,673” per year, with “No day places.” Eton is a full-boarding school: Oppidan notes that “Eton and Harrow are the exceptions: both are full boarding, with no day option at all.” Every boy boards, and the single fee covers tuition and boarding together.
Eton’s page adds three further charges that should not be confused with the term fee. The Year 9 (13+) registration fee is £480 including VAT; the acceptance fee for boys joining in Michaelmas 2026 is £3,840, of which £500 is refunded when the boy leaves; and an additional deposit of one full term’s fees applies only to applicants with at least one parent normally resident overseas. None is an annual charge.
A conflicting secondary figure must be recorded. A review site, FindMySchool, gave Eton’s fee as £21,099.60 per term including VAT, or about £63,300 a year, conflicting with Eton’s own page (£21,891). This draft follows Eton’s own page. Press reporting in June 2026 described Eton as a “£63k-a-year” school, consistent with the older or rounded figure.
VAT: the 20% change that explains the old numbers
From 1 January 2025, the standard 20% rate of VAT has applied to independent-school fees in the United Kingdom, the Independent Schools Council (ISC) records. The ISC’s chief executive, Julie Robinson, said in June 2025 that “VAT on independent school fees at a rate of 20 per cent, being rushed in mid-year in January this year, is just a step too far” for many schools — a statement confirming both the rate and the start date from the sector body itself.
That change is why older Lambrook figures look so different. Directory listings that pre-date the change give Lambrook fees of £4,696 to £7,489 per term excluding VAT, and £5,166 to £8,238 in another listing. Those are pre-VAT figures. The 2026/27 figures in the table above include VAT, per Schoolsmith, and Eton’s £21,891 is expressly “including VAT.” Comparing a pre-VAT figure with a VAT-inclusive figure without saying so would mislead by roughly a fifth. Any article, social post or graphic drawn from this draft must keep the words “including VAT” attached to the 2026/27 figures. A 20% VAT rate does not mean every bill rose by exactly 20%: schools can reclaim VAT on their own purchases, and many absorbed part of the change.
The combined bill: arithmetic, shown in full
With the tables above, a reader can work out what the published bands imply for the Wales family in 2026/27 — provided one assumption is stated openly. People gives Charlotte’s and Louis’s ages in September 2026 as 11 and 8. In the English system, a child aged 11 in September is ordinarily in Year 7, and a child aged 8 in September is ordinarily in Year 4. That places Charlotte in the Years 5–8 band (£11,176 per term) and Louis in the Year 3–4 band (£10,270 per term). No school statement confirming either child’s year group was found in the sources checked, so this remains an assumption, stated openly here.
| Child | School, 2026/27 | Per term | Per year (× 3 terms) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince George | Eton College (boarding) | £21,891 incl. VAT (Eton) | £65,673 |
| Princess Charlotte | Lambrook, Years 5–8 band (assumed) | £11,176 incl. VAT (Talk Education) | £33,528 |
| Prince Louis | Lambrook, Year 3–4 band (assumed) | £10,270 incl. VAT (Talk Education) | £30,810 |
| Total (derived) | £43,337 per term | £130,011 per year |
The derived total, about £130,000 a year, matches the round figure in the keyword brief for this topic (“£130,000 a year”). It shows that the round figure is consistent with the published bands on the stated assumption. It does not prove that the family pays £130,011: bursaries, sibling discounts (none was confirmed for either school in the sources checked), boarding nights at Lambrook, extras, trips, uniform and music or sport charges could all move the actual bill, and the family does not publish it. Eton’s page states that the school account includes “extras from the preceding Half” alongside the fee, and Lambrook’s boarding is charged per night on top of the day fee. The £130,011 figure is therefore a headline-fee total, not a statement of the family’s actual spending, and this article labels it as derived every time it appears.
What the fees buy — and what they do not prove
Lambrook’s 52-acre campus offers a 25-metre swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course, astroturf and hard courts, a squash court and cricket pitches, per directories. Eton, founded in 1440 by Henry VI, is an all-boys boarding school with a famous uniform of black tailcoat, waistcoat, pinstriped trousers and stiff white collar, per People.
Two facts are worth stating plainly. First, Charlotte cannot follow George to Eton: Eton is an all-boys school, and People notes that when Charlotte moves to senior school she will not be able to follow her brother there, with Marlborough College — her mother’s former school — mentioned in reporting as one possibility. No decision about Charlotte’s senior school has been confirmed in the sources checked. Second, the children’s school surname — “Wales” — is a separate matter from fees, covered in the school-surnames explainer.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Eton per term in 2026/27?
£21,891 per Half (term) including VAT, according to Eton College’s own fees page — £65,673 across the three Halves. Eton is boarding-only, so that single fee covers tuition and boarding, with no day-pupil alternative.
How much is Lambrook per term in 2026/27?
Day fees listed by Talk Education range from £7,004 per term (Reception to Year 2) to £11,176 per term (Years 5–8), with Years 3–4 at £10,270. Schoolsmith states fees include VAT and lunches. Weekly boarding is charged separately at £50.40 per night.
What is the combined cost for all three Wales children?
On the published bands, assuming Charlotte is in the Years 5–8 band and Louis in the Year 3–4 band, the headline-fee total is £43,337 per term, or £130,011 a year. That is derived arithmetic, not a figure stated by either school or by the family, and it excludes extras and any Lambrook boarding nights.
Did VAT make school fees 20% higher?
VAT at the standard 20% rate has applied to independent-school fees since 1 January 2025, according to the Independent Schools Council. Fees are now quoted including VAT. That does not mean every bill rose by exactly 20%, because schools can reclaim VAT on purchases and many absorbed part of the change.
Updated: 29 October 2026. Fee figures are 2026/27 published bands as sourced in the body; Eton’s figure is from Eton College’s own fees page and Lambrook’s bands are confirmed against Lambrook School’s own 2026/27 fee schedule. The combined total is derived arithmetic, not a school-stated figure.
SOURCES
- Eton College, “Fees” — https://www.etoncollege.com/admissions/fees/
- Talk Education, “Lambrook School | Prep School Advice”, Fees and bursaries — https://www.talkeducation.com/School/lambrook-school/126?guid=01918c73-2b90-4047-a141-1cd9476c577f
- Schoolsmith, “Lambrook School, Bracknell RG42” — https://www.schoolsmith.co.uk/school/lambrook-school-bracknell-rg42/
- The Good Schools Guide, “Lambrook School Review”, Money matters — https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/uk-schools/review/lambrook-school
- People, “Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis Start New School Year at Lambrook After Prince George Begins at Eton”, September 2026 — https://people.com/princess-charlotte-prince-louis-start-new-school-year-lambrook-as-prince-george-begins-eton-12108163
- People, “Kate Middleton and Prince William Drop Off Prince George for His First Day at Eton College”, September 2026 — https://people.com/kate-middleton-prince-william-drop-off-prince-george-first-day-eton-college-12076795
- Independent Schools Council, “Imposition of VAT on fees ‘a step too far’ for schools, warns ISC CEO”, 18 June 2025 — https://www.isc.co.uk/media-enquiries/news-press-releases-statements/imposition-of-vat-on-fees-a-step-too-far-for-schools-warns-isc-ceo/
- Oppidan Education, “UK Independent School Fees 2026/27” — https://www.oppidaneducation.com/blog/uk-independent-school-fees-2026-27
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