Prince William has come under fire for being given the chance to study at Cambridge University despite the fact his grades aren't nearly up to scratch ("Normally students need A*AA at A-level to gain entry to Cambridge University, whilst the Prince only achieved a mediocre ABC," wrote a student newspaper).

We think it's a bit unfair on the lad, after all he could be sitting at home playing playstation, but now he is being urged by one of the university's most high profile academics to make use of his time there to talk to less well-off students.

Mary Beard, the University’s Professor of Classics, who is something of a national treasure in the UK, has said that the Duke could use his ten week course to meet ordinary students who are worried for their future after University.

Professor Beard, who rose to fame presenting BBC history documentaries, told the Daily Mail: “I very much hope that he will take the opportunity to meet some of our more "ordinary" students, struggling with making ends meet, worried about careers, future and debt.”

Her intervention comes after Cambridge graduate, Melissa Berrill, wrote a rabble-rousing think-piece for the Guardian entitled, 'William's on his way - and Cambridge should be ashamed," commenting, "Prince William is soon to be admitted as a student at Cambridge on a course tailor-made for him – though his A, B and C results at A-level and 2.1 undergraduate degree are far below the standard required for the ordinary student… It's an insult to every student whose A-levels and degree are the same or better than his, and who didn't get a free pass to Cambridge in spite of them. And it's an insult to everyone in the country who needs skills or training, and hasn't had a university course personally designed for them."