Parents at new school chosen by William and Kate fear arrival of George, Charlotte and Louis

Fearful parents at the ‘sweet and laid-back’ school where Prince William and Kate will send Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis think they will see lots of security, it has been reported.

Those who have children at the £21,000-a-year Lambrook School near Ascot believe their 52 acre slice of idylic Berkshire countryside could be transformed when the three royal children attend next month.

They think electric gates will be installed and armed police will need to stalk the corridors and grounds after palace officials revealed on Monday that Prince William and his wife, Kate, will relocate their family from central London to Windsor. 

One mother told the Sunday Mirror: ‘A lot of parents are p***ed off. They’re worried the feel and atmosphere of the school will change with all the security. 

‘Many of us worry things like the carol service will now become more formal and won’t be the sweet, laid-back affair they usually are.’

However, it is understood that most of the school community are happy with the Royal family’s arrival at the school. 

Lambrook boasts of ‘first-class teaching and superb facilities’ which include a 25-metre swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course, an astroturf, hard courts, a squash court, cricket and other sports pitches. 

And it has the added benefit of being a mixed school, boasting just 610 boys and girls aged three to 13, for the Cambridges, meaning that all three children can attend together, cutting down the need for separate school runs and security teams. 

This is along with its closeness to their four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage on the Queen’s estate, just a 15 minute drive away which they will occupy for much of their time instead of their current main home of Kensington Palace. 

Meanwhile, George and Charlotte were pupils at Thomas’s Battersea until the start of the summer while Louis attended Willcocks Nursery in Kensington where they are are understood to have had royal protection. 

In September 2017, a woman was given a caution after causing a nuisance on Thomas’s Battersea property and police reviewed security arrangements in the wake of the incident.

A year later, in June 2018, an internet terrorist urged his social media followers to target George at his school. 

Husnain Rashid, 32, admitted three counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and one of encouraging terrorism and had been jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 25 years. 

His life conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal but his term was reduced to 18 years and 146 days in April 2019. 

But the mother with children at the school added: ‘Parents are picturing armed police in trees and in the corridors – they don’t want their kids witnessing it.

‘There are no electric gates, but that may change with the royal kids coming. It’ll no longer be so easy to come and go.

‘It’s certainly not the same school and vibe we signed the kids up for, and most parents I’ve spoken to feel the same.’ 

Meanwhile, the Royal family will also be only 30 miles from the children’s grandparents Michael and Carole Middleton, uncle James and aunt Pippa in Bucklebury. 

As revealed by the Daily Mail earlier this year, the couple set their heart on the highly regarded co-educational school, Lambrook, set in 52 acres of grounds to replicate their own happy childhoods in the county.

But their offices and charitable empire will continue to operate out of London, with the couple returning several days a week for work. To all intents and purposes, though, Adelaide Cottage will be their main home, day-to-day.

And while there, both will pick up the school run. Kate has often been the one pictured taking Prince George to his current school, Thomas’s in Battersea. But a source told the Sun: ‘Both William and Catherine are very keen to do the school run.’

It comes as it was last week reported how during meetings to discuss the family’s future plans in recent months, Prince William’s own experiences as a grieving schoolboy have, once again, come to the fore.

More than just a physical move from Kensington Palace, experts have suggested that William is sending a clear message to the Royal Family that, while his children remain in their formative years, he views his most important job as being a dad.

One royal insider said ‘Prince William has forgiven his father and relations between them are stronger than they have been in some time, but he has been abundantly clear to all that he won’t repeat the way he was prioritised as a child.

‘He feels Prince Charles’ unquestionable work ethic had a direct impact on his upbringing, especially after the death of his mother. Far too often, his father chose his duties over being a dad.’

While the couple will spend most of their time now at Windsor, one source told the Mail that their base at Kensington Palace will still be used.

A source said: ‘Kensington Palace will remain their official residence now and in the future. Their office will remain there – private office, press office, the lot. They expect to be in London a great deal still. How many days is yet to be decided.

‘They will need to work out over the next few months how they balance everything. But they lived in Norfolk during lockdown and it still worked. It can be done.’

The closeness to their new home will also enable Kate and William to continue to do the school runs themselves as much as possible.

It offers boarding but George, nine, Charlotte, seven, and four-year-old Louis will be day pupils.

The Good Schools Guide says the prep school has a ‘heart of gold’ and offers pupils ‘total freedom to explore, provided you’ve got your wellies on’.

It boasts of ‘first-class teaching and superb facilities’ including a 25-metre swimming pool, a nine-hole golf course, an Astroturf, squash court and a new £6million Queen’s Building for ICT and academic learning.

The prospectus quotes one parent calling it ‘the most magical place for our children to spend time, and they can often be seen rosy-cheeked and perfecting handstands, throwing balls or racing to the three stumps’.

Friends say the Cambridges loved the ethos of the school which is hugely successful but more ‘under the radar’ than others in the area.

Many of the pupils go on to public schools such as Eton, for which George is earmarked and where his father and uncle Harry went.

The couple’s decision to move to Windsor was driven by the wish to find a balance for their family.

They wanted to allow their children the opportunity to enjoy as normal a life as possible while they continue to serve as senior working royals, sources told the Mail.

‘Their children are at the heart of every decision they make,’ said one royal insider. 

‘The duke and duchess want to give them as ‘normal’ start as is possible and this is their chance to give them that for as long as they can.

‘Kensington Palace is a bit of a goldfish bowl. The children can’t play in the grounds without being seen. 

‘They are very fortunate, of course. 

‘The duke and duchess are very conscious of that.

‘But they are hopeful this will afford a happy medium between their public and private lives.’

Kensington Palace – where the couple have lived until now at 20-room Apartment 1A – will remain their official residence both now and after they become the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The couple are said to be ‘acutely conscious’ that £4.5million of taxpayers’ money was used to refurbish the Kensington premises for them and want to ensure it is still a ‘hub’ of activity. 

(‘Two kitchens Kate’ was a criticism frequently flung at the couple when it emerged there would be a staff cooking area installed as well one for the couple personally.)

In 2013 aides even said it would be their ‘forever home’ and somewhere they would live for a ‘long, long time’.

Sources told the Mail last week that remained true but added their circumstances had changed – they are parents to three young children and are adapting to suit their needs.

‘I think the word forever home has been a bit of a lesson for them. It’s certainly their long-term official residence still. 

‘But it’s [also] about evaluation. 

‘Things have changed for them as a family since then – they didn’t know what school their children were going to be sent to, for example,’ said a source.

The Cambridges will also keep on Anmer Hall, the ten-bedroom property in Norfolk gifted as a wedding present by the Queen.

The couple adore the house and would have happily brought up their children there but for its distance from London.

However given Prince Charles’s plans for a slimmed-down monarchy and the cost of living crunch, the couple’s insistence on running three homes may attract unwelcome criticism.

‘They thought long and hard about this and are not unaware [of the criticism]. But they love Anmer, I would say it is the place they actually view as home,’ one friend said yesterday.

‘It’s where they would have brought their family up if the logistics had been different.

‘They are very serious about being senior members of the Royal Family, they want to play a part and this is about finding a compromise that works with their family. 

‘It’s about balance and what it the best for their kids while trying to serve as royals.

‘All of this is about them putting their children first. They really are such great parents, George, Charlotte and Louis are the centre of their world.’

Fortunately their new home, Adelaide Cottage, is fairly modest by royal standards albeit with a principal bedroom decorated with gilded dolphins and rope ornament reused from the 19th century royal yacht Royal George and a marble Graeco-Egyptian fireplace.

With just four bedrooms, the couple will have no live-in staff for the first time, with their nanny, housekeeper and security team living nearby. 

The Grade II listed property is owned by the Crown Estate and the couple will pay ‘market rent’, sources say.

The Queen and the Prince of Wales have both been ‘very supportive’, the Mail understands.

Indeed Her Majesty personally extended the invitation to live at Adelaide Cottage.

A source added: ‘It’s not the main factor but clearly their close proximity to the Queen – I’d say it’s a brisk ten-minute walk – will allow them to spent more time with her. 

‘The duke adores his grandmother and values her opinion more than ever.’

Aides stress that any refurbishment needed above and beyond anything required by an ‘ordinary tenant’ would be funded by the couple privately.

‘There are no major costs. They already benefit from having the security in place there at Windsor,’ said one.

The house was built in 1831 for Queen Adelaide as a summer retreat and was the grace and favour home of Peter Townsend, the former aide whose affair with Princess Margaret rocked the monarchy in the 1950s.

According to a source, the Queen offered the Grade-II listed property to Harry and Meghan as a gift shortly after they married. 

The couple allegedly went for a viewing and liked it but ultimately moved to Frogmore Cottage before quitting the UK entirely.

In a statement Kensington Palace thanked George and Charlotte’s school for their ‘happy start to their education’.

It added the royal couple ‘are pleased to have found a school for all three of their children which shares a similar ethos and values to Thomas’s’.

Jonathan Perry, headmaster at Lambrook, said the school was ‘delighted’ the royal children will be joining and looked forward to welcoming the family.

Ben Thomas, principal of Thomas’s London Day Schools, wished George and Charlotte ‘every happiness and success at their next schools and beyond’.