Prince William returns to university to study agricultural management

Prince William is to become a full-time student of agricultural management at Cambridge University from next week, Kensington Palace has announced.

The Duke of Cambridge will learn about issues facing the UK’s rural communities and farming industry during the 10-week bespoke course.

The studies are expected to give him a foundation for when he takes over the Duchy of Cornwall from Prince Charles.

It is thought the duke will live in Cambridge for part of the time.

A Kensington Palace spokesman said Prince William was “very much looking forward” to the course, which runs until mid-March.

The course is run by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL), an institution within Cambridge University’s School of Technology, which has Prince William’s father, Prince Charles, as its patron.

The Kensington Palace spokesman said: “The executive education programme of seminars, lectures and meetings will draw on the strengths of academics across the university.

“The course has been designed to help provide the duke with an understanding of contemporary issues affecting agricultural business and rural communities in the UK.”

The Duchy of Cornwall is a portfolio of land, property and investments which Prince William will inherit from his father when Prince Charles becomes king.

The duke, who is second-in-line to the throne, will have 18 to 20 hours of lectures, seminars and meetings a week, as well as essays to complete and field trips to attend.

The cost of the course is being met privately.

Prince William graduated from the University of St Andrews in 2005 with a class 2:1 degree in geography, and it was as an undergraduate that he met his future wife Kate Middleton.