Prince William had witnessed the breakdown of his parents, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, but he reportedly "blossomed" when he started going to boarding school, spending more time away from home.

In the 2012 documentary "Prince William at Thirty," Jennie Bond, a former BBC royal correspondent, explained how Prince William got a chance to grow as a young man after he passed the entrance exam for Eton.

"[William] had his own life there, and his own friends and I think he blossomed actually at Eton," she said of his time at the elite boarding school.

During his first day of school at Eton, Prince Charles, Princess Diana and his younger Prince Harry had been present to show their support for Prince William. Photos from the occasion showed Prince William surrounded by his parents and younger sibling when he signed his own name, which is an Etonian tradition.

But while Prince William continued to excel at school, the same couldn't be said of things at home, with his parents' rocky marriage eventually ending in divorce in 1996. A year later, his mother Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris with her new lover. Prince William had only been 15 years old at the time.

Despite his mother's passing, the second-in-line to the throne continued to do well in school, getting 12 GCSEs and later three A-levels in Geography, History of Art and Biology. He reportedly achieved more in school than both of his parents, with Prince Charles earning just two A-levels (History and French) and Diana failing all her O-levels twice.

Prince William may have been driven by his parents' split and his mother's death to do his best in his academics, according to royal expert Katie Nicholl.

“He had pleasantly surprised his teachers at Eton when he passed each of his twelve GCSEs, excelling in English, History and languages," Nicholl said. “The loss to Prince William and Prince Harry was almost unbearable, and when William returned to school, he threw himself into his studies as a distraction.”

After graduating from Eton, Prince William took Geography at the University of St. Andrews, where he met his eventual wife, Kate Middleton.

Now, two of Prince William's children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, are already going to school, while his youngest, Prince Louis, just turned a year old.

Charlotte is set to join her older brother at Thomas's Battersea in September, according to royal commentator Omid Scobie.

Prince William
Prince William attends the unveiling of The Victoria Cross Commemorative Paving Stones representing each of Birmingham's 1st World War recepients at the Hall of Memory, Centenary Square on Dec. 7, 2015 in Birmingham, England. Getty Images/Richard Stonehouse
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