Prince George starts nursery

Perhaps it's not that big a surprise that William and Kate didn't feature in the first day at school photos of Prince George. OK, it's just nursery but we all know that on big occasions like this, parents are usually in pieces while children tend to sail through it. Kate stayed behind the camera lens while she pretended not to cry, no doubt, while George strode into a new phase of his life with confidence.

Prince George of Cambridge heads off to nursery

January 6th 2016, Norfolk

(photo The Duchess of Cambridge/ Kensington Palace)

His backpack was full, he had that familiar and determined look on his face and his mum actually got him to stand still for the camera long enough to capture a sweet little snap of her sweet little boy on his way to a big adventure. It was announced just before Christmas that George would be starting at Westacre Montessori School near his Norfolk home of Anmer Hall. However, the photos were a surprise and a happy one at that as Kensington Palace tweeted them without fanfare on the afternoon that George started school.

A prince goes to playgroup - George of Cambridge gets to know his new nursery

(photo, The Duchess of Cambridge/ Kensington Palace)

It's hoped that these photos will sate the appetite for snaps of George at school and let this little boy, and his mum and dad, get used to the change that is going on in peace. In times gone by, future kings were sent to castles where they commanded their own households at the age of 2 and a bit or kept in the palace nursery. George is following in his father's footsteps and heading off to meet the world at an early age - and, like all little ones making this move, went home to parents who had found the thing much harder than him.