• March 27, 1995
• Vol. 43
• No. 12

Royal Ruggers

It's a Hard-Knocks Life, but Princes Wills and Harry Get in Their Kicks

FOR THE BOY WHO WOULD BE KING, it was a chance to be—for the afternoon, at least—just a boy. And Prince William made the most of it. Casually clad in jeans and sneakers, William, 12—along with brother Harry, 10—dashed onto the field at Twickenham, West London, last week to enjoy what the British papers called a "kick-around" with members of England's national rugby team. While proud mum Diana cheered them on, team captain Will Carling, who met Di at London's Chelsea Harbour Club gym, coached the princes in passing, catching and punting.

But William—who, like Harry, plays rugby at their prep school Ludgrove—isn't all brawn and no brains. Just one day later, the Mail on Sunday reported that the future king had finished among the top six in his class of 15 in all 12 phases of a practice test for the difficult Eton College entrance exam. Even Fleet Street was impressed. Quipped The Sun: "Wills to Be Eton Egghead."