Britain's Prince George, 3, to start school in September

Prince George, Britain's third in line to the throne, is to start school in southwest London in September, Kensington Palace announced on Friday.

Three-year-old George, the elder child of Prince William and his wife Kate, will attend the private Thomas's Battersea school.

The choice is a break from a recent family tradition of sending younger royals to Wetherby School in the affluent Notting Hill area which was attended by both William and George's uncle Prince Harry.

The move follows the decision in January of William and Kate - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - to base their family in London as William gives up his job as an air ambulance helicopter pilot to focus on carrying out official duties on behalf of his 90-year-old grandmother Queen Elizabeth full-time.

George and his sister Charlotte, 1, previously lived with their parents at Anmer Hall, their country mansion on the queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England.

"Their Royal Highnesses are delighted to have found a school where they are confident George will have a happy and successful start to his education," Kensington Palace, the Cambridges' London residence, said in a statement.

The family-run school's website says it caters for 540 boys and girls between the ages of four and 13 and that its most important rule is "be kind".

"We are honored and delighted that Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen Thomas's Battersea for Prince George," headmaster Ben Thomas said in a statement.

"We greatly look forward to welcoming him and all of our new pupils to the school in September."