Photos of Prince George starting at Eton College were published this week, with the images set beside photos of Prince William at the same age. The comparison made the school milestone the point of attention, not just the start itself.
Emma Brockes wrote that Prince George looked “happier, or at least more confident, than his father had been at that age.” She also described his hair as having “such brio,” after a friend said, “Look, his hair’s standing up on its own.”
Prince William at the same age
The side-by-side presentation matters because it asked readers to compare two boys at the same stage of life, rather than treat the new photos as a stand-alone portrait. Brockes’ phrasing pushed the comparison beyond likeness and into demeanor, with George presented as the more assured figure in the pair.
The family resemblance also turned the images into a discussion of how royal boys age. Brockes wrote that the royal men age awkwardly, and the family’s male pattern baldness became part of the reading of the photographs.
Emma Brockes and the hair focus
That is where the piece shifts from a school-start picture to a broader joke about inheritance. Brockes suggested that Kate Middleton’s genes might send the royal bloodline in a different direction, which gives the photos a second layer: they are about appearance, but also about what gets passed down.
For readers, the practical point is simple. The published images do not just mark Eton College as a new chapter for Prince George; they also invite comparison with Prince William and make the boy’s hair, confidence, and expression part of the public record.
Whether Prince George’s start at Eton College marked an actual first day attendance or only the publication of first-day photos is not made clear, so the photos function as the event itself. The result is a small but visible royal moment, shaped as much by what is seen in the frame as by the school behind it.
