Eton to unveil new headmaster before George starts school

Eton College to Reveal New Headmaster Before Prince George’s Highly Anticipated Debut As the 12-year-old prince gears up to join the historic institution this September, the all-boys boarding school is on the cusp of naming its next headmaster. Alastair Chirnside is tipped to be the next headmaster at one of Britain’s elite public schools just months before Prince George begins his schooling.

The elite institution, which has annual fees of 63,300, announced last month the 12-year-old would follow in the footsteps of his father, Prince William and uncle, Prince Harry, to finish his secondary education at the exclusive all-boys boarding school, putting an end to speculation over where the second-in-line to the throne would study.

Who is predicted to head up Britain’s most famous public school Alastair Chirnside is in the running for one of the UK’s most coveted roles in education.

Mr Chirnside is currently Warden at St Edward’s School in Oxford, affectionately nicknamed ‘Teddies’. The academic boasts impressive ties to the school as he himself was a King’s Scholar, a programme for exceptionally bright students where just 14 places are given each year.

‘The favorite is probably him,’ said Charles Bonas, founder of elite schools advisory firm Bonas MacFarlane. ‘He’s got a very good name in the boarding school world’.

Others in the educational world have backed Mr Chirnside as ‘fantastic head’ who could manage the pressure of the role.

‘Backwards looking’ on tech Mr Chirnside took an unlikely detour into the private school world from fund management – he was employed as an investment manager for Schroders in London before rejoining his old school as a classics teacher. From there he rose to be the Deputy Head at Harrow before landing his current role as Warden of St Edward’s in 2021. At Teddies, Mr Chirnside proved he was ‘backwards looking’ with regards to digital distraction among his pupils.

He banned most students from owning or using mobile phones during the school week and ordered the installation of traditional landlines back in boarding houses so that pupils focus on their studies and one another.

He gained a ‘congratulatory first’, a higher first-class degree, for studying classics and French at Merton College, Oxford. He then embarked on a teaching career back at Eton, before moving on to work as the Deputy Head at Harrow school and finally as headmaster of St Edward’s, Oxford, in September 2021.

Mr Henderson, currently headmaster of the boarding school (the youngest in its history to take up the role aged 39 in 2015), will officially stand down in September 2027 to give his replacement a year’s transition time and notice of service.

‘It has been the greatest honour of my professional life to help guide Eton over more than a decade,’ he wrote to parents in the letter. ‘I feel, however, that the time is now right to pass this responsibility to someone new.’ The pay at Eton College is notoriously high and as part of Mr Henderson’s position, he is earning between 450,000 and 459,000 a year, according to Charity Commission data from the last academic year – up from between 260,000 and 270,000 annually from the 2021-22 period.

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Eton College boasts about 1,350 students and, in common with most boarding schools in this country, about 100 scholarships are awarded by the school to ensure talented pupils from less affluent backgrounds have access.

Eton has Prince George.

But why did the Prince and Princess of Wales choose Eton? According to royal experts the multi million pound Eton Sports and Aquatics Centre was instrumental in their choice, where prince George will no doubt hone his skills.