Prince William and Kate Middleton are reportedly giving Eton College’s smartphone ban the royal thumbs-up — especially for their eldest son, Prince George.
The 13-year-old began his studies at the prestigious boarding school in September, where first-year Etonians are banned from using smartphones, according to The Telegraph. Instead, Year 9 students like George are issued basic “brick phones” with no internet access, limiting communication with their parents to calls and texts outside school hours.
Eton College said the decision to ban smartphones for first-year students is intended “to balance the benefits and challenges that technology brings to schools.” Eton reportedly tightened restrictions on first-year students’ school-issued iPads in September 2026, following parental concerns about gaming and internet browsing.
Fox News Digital reached out to Eton College and Kensington Palace for comment.
In 2025, William told actor Eugene Levy on the Apple TV+ series “The Reluctant Traveler” that “none of our children have any phones, which we’re very strict about.”
That same year, William told Brazilian TV host Luciano Huck during the 2025 Earthshot Prize events in Brazil that it had been “really hard” to protect his children from the harms of social media.
WATCH: PRINCE GEORGE’S FUTURE AT ETON COLLEGE COULD LOOK VERY DIFFERENT: EXPERT
“Our children don’t have phones,” he explained at the time. “I think when George moves on to secondary school, then maybe he might have a phone that has no internet access. And to be honest, it’s getting to a point where it’s become a little bit of a, like, tense issue.”
“But I think he understands why,” William continued. “We communicate why we don’t think it’s right. And again, I think it’s the internet access I have a problem with. I think children can access too much stuff they don’t need to see online, and so having a phone and text message, the old sort of ‘brick phone’ as they call them, I think that’s fine.”
“It has been rumored that William and Kate were having battles with George over having a smartphone with internet access,” royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital. “Usage could get him into trouble but also allow him access to views on the royal family, good and bad, which may worry him.”
“It is now becoming more common practice for schools to ban smartphone usage during school days, and parents want age-appropriate locks on internet technology,” Turner added.
British broadcaster Helena Chard told Fox News Digital that Eton’s smartphone policy is “music to Prince William and Princess Catherine’s ears.”
“Prince William and Princess Catherine restrict smart devices to protect their children from internet safety risks,” she explained. “A healthy rule of accessing only ‘brick phones’ at Eton only enables essential communication and calls and texts at home. The couple take great comfort in knowing that Prince George will not be wasting his time gaming, ‘doom-scrolling,’ or accessing inappropriate online content.”
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“Prince George has never owned a smartphone,” Chard continued. “He will be more than happy with a brick phone. As Princess Catherine has shared, smartphones can create an emotional disconnection. Prince George has years of smartphone access ahead of him and certainly will not go without!”
Eton College, a world-renowned all-boys boarding school, was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It serves students between the ages of 13 and 18. About 1,350 students attend Eton, where they live in 25 boarding houses, each housing approximately 55 pupils, according to the school’s website. People magazine reported that tuition was about $80,000 for the 2025-26 academic year.
William and his younger brother, Prince Harry, attended Eton, making them both “Old Etonians.” Princess Diana’s father, John Spencer, and brother, Charles Spencer, also attended the school, as did Queen Elizabeth II’s cousins, the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kent.
Hugo Vickers, author of “Behind Closed Doors” and a fellow “Old Etonian,” told Fox News Digital that Eton College’s use of “brick phones” is “sensible.” Vickers has written several books about the British royal family.
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“In my day, most of our communication was by writing a letter home,” he said with a smile.
“And there was about, if I remember rightly, about four telephone boxes planted at different places around the school. On a Sunday morning, if you wanted to ring your parents, you had to get there, and then you’d have to queue up while other people were in there. It sounds very archaic now. And sometimes you never got into the telephone box because it’s time to go to chapel or something.”
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“So I think the whole thing about communicating with parents is a whole new concept,” Vickers continued. “Basic communication with parents is a good thing, but of course, to get the full advantage of the school, it’s probably better not to be linking to things all over the world via internet.”
Melanie Sanderson, managing editor of The Good Schools Guide, told People magazine that Eton College’s phone decision “was very much welcomed by parents.”
“And the boys are so busy, they don’t have time to be sat on their beds scrolling TikTok,” she said.
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George was recently on Eton’s “Long Leave,” a 16-day break that ended Nov. 8. The royal family lives at Forest Lodge in Windsor. When George returns to Eton, the school’s restrictions on first-year students’ smartphones could offer some additional privacy, although older students and parents may still have access to the devices.
“I do know that when George and his siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis … if one of them was going to play a match at a neighboring school, the headmaster would send out a message saying … ‘Please, no photographs, no posting,’” Vickers said.
“And the parents would respect that because they’re all well brought up. … We never saw any pictures of them at other schools. Nothing was ever leaked because people respect William and Catherine very much.”
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