News for Saturday: June 24th, 2000

Princesses switch to English school(Electronic Telegraph)
By Robert Hardman

THE Duke and Duchess of York have shelved plans to send their daughters to a scandal-hit Swiss school, opting instead for a girls' public school in Surrey.
Princess Beatrice, 11, will start as a day girl at St George's, Ascot, in September, rather than boarding at Aiglon College, near the Swiss town of Villars. Next year, Princess Eugenie, 10, will join the school that educated Lady Davina Windsor, 22, and Lady Rose Windsor, 20, daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
A Palace spokesman said yesterday that it was a case of "postponing" the girls' education at Aiglon. However, indications are that St George's is likely to be a permanent choice.
The change of plan is grave news for Aiglon as it tries to salvage its reputation. Last month, the headmaster was charged with alleged sex offences against children and resigned. The charges were unconnected to a sexual assault on three girls at the school earlier this year, an attack that is still being investigated.
The Duke and Duchess said that they had taken the decision "reluctantly", adding: "Our priority is a stable educational environment for our children." They reaffirmed their belief in the spirit of Aiglon, which is a member of the Round Square association of schools, which embrace the philosophy of Kurt Hahn, the founder of Gordonstoun, the Duke's old school.
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How a Swiss college lost ultimate seal of approval(Electronic Telegraph)
By Robert Hardman and John Clare

IT was to have been a royal education unlike any other - mountain air, skiing weekends, a cosmopolitan set of classmates from 53 countries and no daily diet of headlines about the family.
Now, though, Princess Beatrice, 11, and Princess Eugenie, 10, can look forward to rhododendrons and lacrosse under grey Berkshire skies - plus the comforts of home just a short drive down the road - when they are enrolled at St George's, Ascot.
Aiglon College, near Villars, in Switzerland, used to have a racy image. Film stars like Roger Moore and Sophia Lauren sent their children there, as did the racing driver Jackie Stewart. A couple of British princesses would have been the ultimate seal of approval. But now, those same princesses are going elsewhere.
It was the Duke of York who was most keen to send his daughters to the British-run Alpine establishment where the fees range from £15,300 to £22,325 a year. He was particularly attracted by the school's ethos which was based on the philosophy of Kurt Hahn, the founder of the Duke's own alma mater, Gordonstoun.
There were security problems in sending the Princesses abroad and the Queen's permission had to be sought. But Aiglon's promise of a "family atmosphere" within a "structured and disciplined atmosphere" led to an announcement in February that Princess Beatrice would join Aiglon's 300 pupils in September. Princess Eugenie would follow a year later.
Scandal, though, was already in the air. Two months earlier, a chemistry teacher left after his homosexual fantasies were published on the internet. Then came disclosures that three girls had been drugged and sexually assaulted in a dormitory. And royal concerns grew last month when it emerged that the headmaster, Richard McDonald, was not on a sabbatical but in prison on charges of sex offences against children. The allegations had nothing to do with the dormitory attack.
Media stories of debauchery and drinking among the pupils followed swiftly. Initially and officially, the Duke and Duchess remained loyal to their original choice but it was becoming clear that Aiglon was an increasingly dubious option.
They drew up a shortlist of alternatives which was narrowed down to a choice of two: boarding at St Mary's, Wantage, and day education at St George's, Ascot. After a final inspection last week, they chose the latter - while trying to spare some of Aiglon's blushes by saying that the Swiss option had been "postponed".
Hidden among the pine trees and suburban hedges of Ascot, St George's occupies a 30-acre estate near the Queen's favourite racecourse. Its aim is to give its 270 pupils, aged 11 to 18, a "sound general education without subjecting them to undue pressure". Virtually all the girls pass at least five GCSEs at grades A to C and last year 70 per cent of the A-levels they took were graded A or B, which put St George's 75th in the independent schools league table.
Although fees range from £14,000 for boarders to £9,000 for day girls, the facilities are far from luxurious. There is a modern sports hall and an athletics track but the swimming pool is out of doors. The school is old-fashioned enough to teach home economics and puts more emphasis on the girls learning touch-typing than becoming computer literate. It does not yet have a web site.
There is a big emphasis on "activities", including the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, pony trekking and lace making. The boarders, most of whose families live near by, are encouraged to keep pets which, according to the school prospectus, "include hamsters, gerbils, mice, guinea pigs and rabbits". Dances are shared with nearby Eton and Wellington while Eton often "borrows" girls for its plays. Old girls include the daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Joanna Grant Peterkin, 50, who became headmistress a year ago, was previously head of modern languages at St Paul's Girls School, west London. Her father, Sir Brian Young, was once head of Charterhouse, and her husband, Peter, is a major general. They have no children. Although its academic record may be more impressive than Aiglon's, the nearest St George's can come to Alpine attractions is a tentative offer of dry skiing.

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