Meghan Markle Eyes $60K Per Year School For 3-Year-Old Lilibet
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are considering enrolling their daughter Princess Lilibet in a prestigious private school in California, according to a royal expert.
Royal author Tom Quinn told the Mirror U.K. that Princess Lilibet, who turned 3 last week, "is lined up for $60,000-a-year private school" in Montecito, where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex settled down after quitting royal duties and leaving the U.K. in 2020.
Markle and Prince Harry reportedly began scoping out schools for Princess Lilibet and their 5-year-old son Prince Archie as early as February 2023.
At the time, Montecito Journal's Richard Mineards reported that the royal couple was eyeing a "local private school" for their two kids.
According to Mineards, Markle and Prince Harry were spotted touring the unnamed school's campus earlier that month.
The journalist noted that school fees in Montecito ranged from $6,000 to more than $50,000.
Mineards also told Hello! magazine's "A Right Royal" podcast that Prince Harry and Markle have plenty of "very good" schools to choose from for Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie, who is expected to start kindergarten in the fall.
"We have very good schools, which are not like England public schools, but they're state schools. And we have a very good one called Cold Spring School, which has got great ratings and that's in their catchment area," the Montecito resident said.
Speaking to the Mirror, Quinn said that though rumors previously suggested that the Sussexes would consider sending Lilibet and Archie to a local state school, this "was never really on the cards."
"It made it look as if the couple were trying to be as ordinary as possible, but no one was fooled," the royal expert claimed. "Apart from anything else, Harry wouldn't countenance risking his children being educated in anything other than in an elite environment. Choosing an elite school is very much in the royal family tradition."
Prince Harry attended Wetherby School, Ludgrove School and Eton College, all private schools, in the U.K.
Eton College also educated Prince William and 20 of the U.K.'s prime ministers.
Markle also went to private schools in Los Angeles: Little Red Schoolhouse and Immaculate Heart High School.
According to Marie Claire, Immaculate Heart was attended by several other celebrities, including Tyra Banks, Lucille Ball, Dakota Johnson and Mary Tyler Moore.
