We got the confirmation late last week: the Princess of Wales absolutely will not join her husband in Singapore in November for the Earthshot Awards. Kate had been scheduled to go to Singapore for months, then *someone* in Kensington Palace began to soft-launch “Kate’s mothering priorities are so major, she would never abandon her children to a fleet of nannies for a few days!” Very few people in the British media were buying it, which is why Kensington Palace added a new detail to further explain Kate’s absence: she needs to be around to support George as he takes some kind of exam. Even fewer people are buying that explanation, so it was interesting to watch as the Telegraph’s coverage tried to dig deeper into what kind of test was so important for a 10-year-old.

The Princess of Wales will not join Prince William in Singapore for the Earthshot Prize awards as Prince George has school exams that week. For the first time since launching the environmental award, the Prince will fly solo when he heads to Asia in early November.

A Kensington Palace source confirmed that the Princess wanted to remain at home to support their elder son. Prince George, 10, is currently in year six at Lambrook prep school in Berkshire but was recently spotted looking around Eton College with his family ahead of a potential move there.

All applicants for year nine sit an online pre-test in the autumn term of year six, either at their current school or at an agreed centre. At the same time, Eton also requests a head teacher’s report covering a boy’s academic strengths, interests and character.

A selection of boys are then chosen to go forward to the second stage, an assessment later in the academic year before successful candidates are offered a conditional place, pending an entrance exam sat in year eight. Similar tests are held at around the same time for applicants to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, the Princess’s alma mater.

[From The Telegraph]

Because I know very little about the British educational system, much less all of these crazy boarding schools, this was very confusing to me. From what I gather, George is preparing to eventually go to Eton, so he’s, like, on “the Eton track.” Which means a certain set of tests taken at certain points in the boys’ pre-Eton schooling. Like, SATs but for posh boarding schools. It’s possible that George really is taking some important “pre-test” around the same time as the Singapore trip. But it’s also true that if William actually wanted Kate in Singapore, she would be going. He doesn’t want her there, he doesn’t want her trying to grab his ass and gawping at everyone. One more thing about George’s pre-test… why wasn’t that cited months ago? Why does it feel like an excuse pulled out of the air at the last minute?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.