Prince George won't have a smartphone until he's 18: William once explained why, 'Kids have access to too much stuff'

Prince George will remain at boarding school without a smartphone. He turned 13 on July 22. He will enter Eton College in September. He will study there for five years. It is expected to be there by July 18, 2031.

Both Prince William and Prince Harry studied at Eton College. In fact, William was the first senior member of the royal family to attend the school.

First-year Etonians are reportedly not allowed smartphones. Eton will instead provide basic ‘brick’ phones without internet access. These allow calls and text messages with family outside of school hours.

The school implemented the rule after reviewing facility policies. It aims to balance the benefits of technology with its potential challenges. This reflects the existing no-smartphone-at-home rule.

Prince William has previously said that none of his children own a smartphone. He described being very strict about this particular household rule.

William later admitted that protecting children from social media would prove really difficult. He discussed the challenge during a trip to Brazil in November 2025.

“Our kids don’t have phones. I think when George gets to high school, then maybe he’ll have a phone that doesn’t have internet access. And frankly, it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming a bit of a sticky issue,” he said at the time.

“But I think he understands why. We communicate why we don’t think it’s right. And again, I think it’s an internet access issue. I think kids have access to too much stuff they don’t need to see online, so having a phone and a text message, the old kind of ‘brick phone’ as they call it, I think that’s fine,” he added.

Prince George Birthday Photos

William and Kate celebrated Prince George’s birthday with a new official portrait. Separately, they also shared a behind-the-scenes video on Instagram.

The young prince was snapped casually spending time outdoors. This reflects a more relaxed approach to the royal family’s presentation.

Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond discussed the move with the Mirror. She highlighted how Prince William and Kate Middleton would treat their children.

They use first names only, with no formal royal titles attached. According to Bond, this sets a deliberately new, less pompous tone. She linked this approach to William’s vision of being “royal with a small r”.

This year’s birthday content offered two contrasting styles at the same time. One video showed George playfully spending the holiday alongside his siblings. The other featured a smarter portrait of George in a suit.

This year’s portrait is different from previous published birthday photos. Last year’s picture showed George dressed casually in the Norfolk countryside.

The latest photo instead features him formally dressed and posing. This contrasts with the more relaxed images of Charlotte and Louise that were previously released.

Bond suggested that George’s shift to formality has a special symbolic meaning. Both the video and portrait were shared along with loving birthday messages.

“I suspect this tradition will continue… Over the years, the photographs have shown a young boy smiling and laughing, happy and confident – far better images than a bank of press photographers could achieve. So it’s been a very successful tactic,” she told the publication.