Figure 1.--Here we see Prince George on the "Britania". The life of a naval cadet was a shock to him, but eventually adjusted abd persued a career in the navy.

Candicates to be naval cadets had to pass an examination to do this. Their mother who was on a 6-month trip with her husband wrote the boys asking them to study hard. Prince George appears to have actually passed the exam. It is unlely that Prince Eddy did. The first time that the family was to be divided came in 1877 when Prince Eddy and Prince George were to report to the Royal Navy training ship HMS Britania to begin their training as naval cadets. Prince George was only 12-years old and having been raised in the protective atmpsphere of Sandringham behaved as an even younger boy. The live of a naval cadet mush have been a bit of a shock to both boys.

Break with Tradition

The boys' parents decided to break with tradition and send the boys to naval cadet school. This was a break with tradition. Their father was tutored at home. I'm not sure whose idea it was. There was no effort made to prepare the boys for the rather rough conditions they would face. Neither had experience with either school or living away from home. You might have thought that Prince George would after the experience better prepare his sons, but he made no effort to do so.

Entrance Exam

Candicates to be naval cadets had to pass an examination to do this. Their mother who was on a 6-month trip with her husband wrote the boys asking them to study hard. Prince George appears to have actually passed the exam. It is unlely that Prince Eddy did.

Separation

The first time that the family was to be divided came in 1877 when Prince Eddy and Prince George were to report to the Royal Navy training ship HMS Britania to begin their training as naval cadets. Prince Eddy was taken ill with typhoid fever in early 1877, but recovered in time to go with his brother to Dartmouth to begin their first term aboard HMS Britania. The boys and their mother Queen Alexandra cried on their departure.

Adjustment

Prince George was only 12-years old and having been raised in the protective atmpsphere of Sandringham behaved as an even younger boy. The live of a naval cadet mush have been a bit of a shock to both boys. The boys like the other cadets slept on hammocks. The Princess inquired in one of her letters if they had gotten used to them yet.

Prince Eddy

Prince Eddy did not do well on Britania. In fact he did terribly. Lord Ramsey at the school sent very poor reports back to the Prince and Princess of Wales. There was some consideration during December 1878 of withdrawing him because his academic abilities were far below that of the average cadet. He simply could not compete with the other boys. The Princess asked for Dalton's opinion. She personally felt that it would do irreperable harm to separate the boys and educate Prince Eddy at home alone. It was finally decided to let him finish the program at Darthmouth on Britania. [Battiscombe, pp. 153-154.]

Prince George

The life of a naval cadet was rather a shock to Prince George. Even so, Prince George did well on Britania--the vessel used as a training school. At least he did better than his brother. We have little information at this time on George's school experiences. We know he initially had trouble with his lessons and he was not as well prepared as the other boys. He apparently got into a few hand-to-hand fights with the other cadets. We have few details, but he does not appear to have endured the hazing that his oldest son, the future Edward VIII, experienced when he attended the Royal Cadet School at Osborne. Perhaps he was not hazed as much or perhaps he was better able to handle it. At any rate he sent all of his sons that felt fit enough to handle the demanding program to Osborne where the Naval Cadet Prgram had been relocated in part of his Grandmother's estate. Only Henry and John were not sent.

Sources

Battiscombe, Georgina. Queen Alexandra (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1969).

Created: 4:55 AM 1/28/2005
Last updated: 4:55 AM 1/28/2005