Prince William and Princess Kate Confront Presenter Over Princess Charlotte School Remark
Prince William and Princess Kate personally confronted presenter Greg James after hearing his remark about Princess Charlotte’s first day at school, although their later interactions suggest the amusing misunderstanding caused no lasting tension.
The story has resurfaced as attention returns to the Wales children’s education, with Prince George beginning a significant new chapter at Eton while Charlotte and Prince Louis continue their studies at Lambrook.
George, who recently turned 13, joined Eton this September, following in William’s footsteps and leaving his younger siblings at their current school as speculation grows about Charlotte’s future education.
William and Kate have always kept their children’s schooling relatively protected, but one memorable moment involving Charlotte became the subject of a joke on BBC radio after she started at Thomas’s Battersea in 2019.
Presenter Greg James noticed photographs showing the young Princess politely shaking hands with headmistress Helen Haslem as she arrived for her first day at the London school.
Seeing the formal-looking greeting, James joked on air: “Who the hell shakes hands with their teacher on the first day?” without apparently expecting Charlotte’s parents to hear his comments.
However, William and Kate had been listening. James later revealed that he encountered the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Kensington Palace and discovered they knew exactly what he had said.
“They were listening on the morning Charlotte went to school,” James recalled while explaining the slightly uncomfortable moment when the royal couple raised his radio commentary with him.
His immediate reaction was one of embarrassment. “I went: ‘Oh God, no!’” the presenter admitted after realising his light-hearted observation had reached William and Kate themselves.
James explained that his joke had been based on the impression that Charlotte attended such a formal school that pupils were expected to shake hands with their teachers every day.
“They were not like that in my day,” he joked, adding that during his own school experience, “You were pleased if you got a smile.”
Despite the awkward exchange, there appears to have been no lasting disagreement between James and the Prince and Princess of Wales, with their relationship remaining friendly in subsequent years.
That became particularly evident when William later appeared in good spirits while supporting James during his tandem bike challenge, suggesting the earlier Charlotte joke had long since become little more than an amusing anecdote.
With George now at Eton and questions continuing about Charlotte’s eventual educational path, the story offers a glimpse of William and Kate as protective parents. They clearly noticed commentary surrounding their daughter, but their later friendliness with James shows the school remark did not develop into a serious royal dispute.
