Eton
Helena Morrissey: my manifesto for the next govenor of the Bank of England
The start of term at Oxford University is bittersweet for the close-knit Morrisseys; we have just ‘lost’ three offspring to…
Gratitude lessons show Eton is losing its way
‘Repeat after me, gentlemen: “Thank you for not letting me into your Oxbridge college because I belong to the wrong…
What would happen if the Gospels were judged in a history contest?
This week, the Wolfson History Prize announced its shortlist. It is always worth drawing attention to, precisely because it is…
Our public schools now resemble five-star hotels — with a Russian and Asian clientele
Deplore it or revere it, you cannot but respect the private school industry’s wart-like survival in modern Britain. Has any…
I wish I had kept my Brummie accent. I’d be taken more seriously
‘No one wants to send their son to Eton any more,’ I learned from last week’s Spectator Schools supplement. It…
Pray time is just as vital as play time in our schools
A traditional church service is a vital part of school life. Harry Mount
How does the wreckage look from the point of view of Mrs May and her team?
Before knowing the result of the election, I composed my Chairman’s message in the newsletter of the Rectory Society. In…
What Vladimir Putin said to the Eton boys
How does Vladimir Putin think about the world? It becomes dangerously important to know. I still have not seen a…
Steven Runciman — historian, tease and professional enigma
Steven Runciman, the historian of Byzantium, is a puzzling figure. He was an outrageous snob, once remarking that he would…
Meet Boris Mark II - the future Prime Minister
His jokes are back – but under much tighter control
China's Eton envy - why they love our posh boys
China’s new rich look on Britain’s ancient public schools with awe – and envy
The rise and fall of the Cameron Chumocracy
Emily Hill untangles the intricate web of trusted old pals who surrounded David Cameron... and led him to his downfall
Inside David Cameron’s personal Brexit
In the days following David Cameron’s resignation as prime minister, Michael Gove tried to persuade the Cameroons to back Boris…
Good riddance to stern matrons and bullying housemasters
Pastoral care has come an awfully long way in recent years, finds Mark Palmer
In most state schools, cricket is a dead ball game
The England team may be riding high, but state schools have all but abandoned cricket
Charles Moore’s Notes: If we want to save the elephant, we must legalise the ivory trade
How good a deal for Britain is it that the president of China got a state visit and a nuclear…
How to get a good education — from the former headmaster of Eton
An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Education is Tony Little’s valedictory meditation on his profession, published on his retirement as headmaster…
William Waldegrave: too nice ever to have been PM
‘Lobbying,’ writes William Waldegrave in this extraordinary memoir, ‘takes many forms.’ But he has surely reported a variant hitherto unrecorded…
A rebellion among Rugby schoolboys proved perfect training for its ringleader in putting down a Jamaican slave-rising in later life
The public schools ought to have gone out of business long ago. The Education Act of 1944, which promised ‘state-aided…
James Blunt’s sense of entitlement is so palpable you could wear it as a hat
Only a fool would mess with James Blunt. As his Twitter followers know, he has a sharp wit, and, as…
Why there’s no such thing as an Etonian
Finally, just in the last few years I’d say, we’ve all begun to accept the role of nature in the…
We're still repeating the mistakes of the first world war
The time-honoured saying that England’s great battles have been won on the playing fields of Eton is a lot of…
Eton vs snobbery
One of the stranger things about Eton is its near-total lack of class snobbery. Yes, all right, you still get…