Princess Charlotte Arrives for Her First Day at School

When Charlotte’s brother arrived for his first day at school, their mother Kate Middleton was unable to attend as she was being violently ill with an extreme form of morning sickness, occasioned by her pregnancy with Prince Louis.

On Thursday morning, however, Kate made up for that missed date, accompanying Charlotte into the schoolyard for her first day at her new school, St. Thomas Battersea.

Also on hand was her dad, Prince William, and big brother Prince George, who is now entering his third year at the school and will thus, one expects, be able to show her the ropes.

Although Charlotte, who turned 4 in May, has developed an unenviable reputation for sticking out her tongue at public engagements, she appeared sufficiently cowed by the experience of starting a new school to stay calm.

Aaron Chown

Instead of engaging in her usual cheeky antics, she adopted a pose familiar to many new schoolchildren and clutched her mother’s hand while hiding behind her skirt.

It was left to William to deliver the breaking news that Princess Charlotte was “very excited” by the occasion of her first day.

Charlotte was greeted with a firm handshake by one of the school’s teachers although the headmaster, Simon O’Malley, named as one of Tatler magazine’s “six hottest headmasters,” was not present for the royal welcoming committee.

Charlotte will be in a class with 20 other children and the school curriculum includes such esoteric subjects as Chinese, ballet, music, drama, and yoga.