Prince George and other young royals at school - in pictures

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There is a familiar face among the thousands of excited four-year-olds starting school this week - Prince George, who begins his formal education today at Thomas’s school in Battersea, south London.

Pictures released by Kensington Palace show the young royal accompanied by his father, the Duke of Cambridge, as he arrived at the school this morning. In one photo, George is seen shyly shaking hands with the head of the school's lower forms.

Absent from the scene was George’s mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, currently laid low by a bout of severe morning sickness relating to her recently-announced third pregnancy.

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Like the 20 other pupils in his class, George “has his own desk and peg with his name on”, says the BBC. The school's head, Ben Thomas, has said that the young royal - who will be known to his new friends as George Cambridge -would be treated no differently from the other pupils at the £18,000-a-year private day school.

Thomas's school's curriculum includes “understanding the world” and “expressive arts and design”, The Guardian reports, suggesting George can expect a very different education to that of royals past. Prince Charles once called his Highland boarding school “Colditz in kilts”, while Princess Margaret bitterly resented what she saw as her substandard education.

Take a look at the gallery above for a journey through the history of the Windsors’ education.