bitchy | Did Prince Harry already register Archie to eventually attend Eton? No.

Following Prince Harry and King Charles’s meeting at Clarence House two weeks ago, one story has been consuming the British press: “Harry wants to send his kids to English boarding schools!” Richard Eden at the Daily Mail has written multiple stories about this very odd rumor, and now Tom Sykes is getting into it on his Royalist Substack. When the initial story came out, one of the commenters made a brilliant deduction: that the rumors were started by Kensington Palace as a way to convince the Princess of Wales to send Prince George to Eton. Like, Kate is such a copy-keener, so if she heard that Meghan and Harry plan on sending Archie to Eton, Kate will finally agree to it. Anyway, Tom Sykes’s big exclusive is that Harry has already registered Archie for Eton.

Friends of Prince Harry have told The Royalist that Harry has put his son Archie, 6, down for Eton College. This could mean that the children of Prince Harry and Prince William will attend the elite all-boys’ Windsor boarding school at the same time. There are five years between Archie and George, but less than two years between Louis and Archie.

The background to all this is Harry’s visit to the U.K. last week, during which he met his father and, according to a report in the Mail, shared with the king his plans to educate his kids in the U.K. Then the British singer Joss Stone, who recently moved back to the U.K. after time abroad, told Hello! magazine about a chat she had with Harry at London’s WellChild Awards last week.

The singer, 38, said: “He asked about how we were settling back in and was genuinely interested in our move home. He’s just very warm and down to earth, as always. Maybe Harry will move back, too. That would be nice. He was saying how wonderful the schools are here, and how important community is for children. It was nice to share that with him because it’s exactly why we felt drawn to come back—for the kids to grow up surrounded by family, friends, and a strong sense of belonging, and most importantly in a safe environment.”

Now, an old school friend of both Harry and William exclusively tells me, “It’s no longer strictly necessary to put your kids’ names down at birth, but Harry has put Archie down. It’s fair to say he had mixed feelings about the school when he left, but looking back on it, he can appreciate the good.”

Another old schoolfriend told The Royalist: “For William and Harry, Eton is really the only sensible choice when it comes to British schools, because of security. There are so many high-profile and politically exposed kids there that the whole school has ridiculous security provisions already. It’s seven-day boarding, lots of kids fly back and forth at the beginning and end of term, so why shouldn’t Archie? The school certainly wouldn’t be prejudiced against him. Statistically, you have to imagine Eton would be a hell of a lot safer than an American school thanks to their gun laws.”

Harry’s people dismissed the story. I have approached Eton College for comment, but I assume I won’t be hearing from them.

[From The Royalist Substack]

Buried the lede: “Harry’s people dismissed the story.” Now, I think it’s perfectly possible that in 2019, when Archie was born, this was the general education plan, to eventually send him to Eton. But plans change and it’s not 2019 anymore. Still, I’m so curious about all of this bizarre focus on Archie’s education, and to a lesser extent, Lili’s education. Even if you think there might be some whiff of truth to this “Archie will go to Eton” story, why now when the child is only six years old? Why now when Archie has been living in America for over five years? Is this all projection because Kate absolutely refuses to send her kids to boarding school?

After Sykes published all of this, he added this note: “Harry’s team initially brushed off the query in vague terms. However, after publication of this story, a spokesperson for the Duke said: ‘Prince Harry has not put his son’s name down for Eton, nor does he have any plans to do so.’” Dollars to donuts, this whole storyline came from Kensington Palace, right?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.