Prince George about to start ‘big’ school in just a fortnight, his new private prep has been described as ‘competitive, oversubscribed’ and for ‘cosmopolitan parents who want their children to have the best English education money can buy’.

The third in line to the throne, who turned four in July, will be one of the youngest pupils in his class at Thomas’s, a private £19,884-a-year school in Battersea, an affluent middle class area of south west London dubbed Nappy Valley by locals.

According to the newly updated review by the Good Schools Guide, Thomas’s, a family-owned school, is so popular that parents are encouraged to register their child at birth, although that is something that clearly didn’t happen in the little prince’s case. There are at least three applicants for each place offered and the school even has a criteria of what they look for in a child, namely ones with: ‘a measure of confidence, are responsive, sociable, with a light in their eyes’.

The popular guide, which is based on parent reviews, describes it as a ‘big, busy, slightly chaotic school for cosmopolitan parents who want their children to have the best English education money can buy.’ 

‘That is what they want,’ it continues, ‘and, to a large extent that is what they get.’

It does, however warn that ‘withdrawn types’ might find it a bit overwhelming. The school has its own fleet of buses to ferry them for sports – which includes sculling - and boasts its own science labs, computer suites, music centre teaching everything from the cornet to the piano, and two pottery rooms.

Latin is compulsory from Year 5 and younger children, like George in reception, have access to a ‘fantastic’ rooftop playground.

In choosing Thomas’s, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have shunned ‘traditional’ royal feeder schools, such as Whetherby, attended by both William and Harry.

It is situated across the River Thames from Kensington Palace, up to half an hours’ drive away in rush hour, but the Duke and Duchess are insisting that they will do the school run as much as possible themselves.

Thomas’s prides itself on a ‘rounded education’, with as much emphasis on its motto Be Kind, as on academic results – although many of its 540 boys and girls, aged four to 13, go onto good public schools such as Eton.

The family-run school encourages children not to have one particular best friend – preferring children to mix with a wide variety of fellow pupils - and there is great emphasis on ‘kindness, courtesy, confidence and humility’.

One parent has told the Mail that the school has even just bought a lodge in Austria where they take children on ski holidays. In a letter to parents earlier this year, the school’s principles, Ben Thomas and Tobyn Thomas (sons of the school’s founders), said they were ‘delighted’ at William and Kate’s decision.

The letter said: ‘This is clearly a significant moment for their family and most certainly for Thomas's.

‘Like so many parents, the Duke and Duchess have put a great deal of thought into the choice of their eldest child's first 'big school'. 

We are honoured that the aims and values of Thomas's reflect those that Their Royal Highnesses would like for Prince George's education.