The Crown damages private schools with its 'frustrating stereotyping', says education chief
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The Crown is perpetuating negative stereotypes about private schools, the head of an education group has said.
Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, suggested that the portrayal of elite schools attended by Royals in the Netflix series is damaging the public’s perception of the sector.
The new series six of the fictional show about the monarchy portrays Prince William and Prince Harry’s school days at Eton College, the £50,000-a-year boarding school in Windsor, Berkshire.
In series two of The Crown, King Charles is shown having an unhappy school experience at Gordonstoun near Elgin in Scotland.
One episode shows rain flooding in through a broken dormitory window, soaking the future King’s sheets as he lay shivering in bed.
Mrs Robinson also said the show was perpetuating a stereotype that independent schools are all wealthy and attended by rich children.
Speaking at the Girls’ Schools Association annual conference in the Cotswolds this week, she said: “It is frustrating for us because there’s a big stereotype about independent schools and it’s very symbolically effective. I’ve been doing this job for eight years and I never cease to be amazed at how powerful the stereotype is.
“The reality is that we are a small sector with a few wealthy and really strong world-famous schools which are actually a great export for the UK and good for business and across the globe.
“It is hard to get that message out when people will be watching The Crown again and will be thinking of certain schools and that is what we are up against – what people imagine independent schools to be, and the actual fact that these are schools with teachers the same as in the state sector, and with heads that want the best for their schools and communities with children who are just children going to school.
“It would be so nice to live in a world where we are just sharing the best of everything.”
Her comments come after an Ipsos poll on Labour’s plan to charge VAT on school fees showed that 57 per cent of adults supported the plan.
The poll of more than 2,000 people also found that a quarter believe the policy has been drawn up out of envy to punish parents that send their children to private school.
Mrs Robinson, a former prep school head, said it would be nice to be in a world where parents did not have to “apologise” for sending their children to independent schools.
She said: “When I was a prep school head, I wanted my parents to go to dinner parties and not for them to have to apologise because they assumed that there is going to be a poshness or class label if they mentioned where their child went to school.
“I want them to be able to say – ‘I’ve found this great school and it’s really good for my child, whether that’s for special needs or drama or sport. Why would you want to damage schools? If you go abroad, people say ‘your education system is amazing’.
“Parents who choose independent education shouldn’t feel guilty for their choice and they should not be criticised for it.”
