Britain’s Prince Harry was a ”weak” student at school whose final work for an art examination was completed by a member of staff, a former teacher at his prestigious private school alleged on Monday.
Sarah Forsyth, who is claiming unfair dismissal by Eton College, also told an employment tribunal that she wrote virtually all the accompanying text for an art project submitted to external examiners by the prince, now 20.
She considered this to be ”unethical and probably constituted to cheating”, Forsyth, a former art teacher at the elite school which charges more than 22 000 pounds a year, said in a statement.
When the case began in October last year — it was later adjourned — Forsyth alleged she had been ordered by a school administrator to help the young royal pass his art exam.
On Sunday, Harry began training to become a British army officer at the Sandhurst military academy, a place that was dependent on certain minimum examination results.
The prince just qualified with a B grade in art and a D in geography in his A Levels — final school examinations taken by 18-year-olds in England and Wales.
Forsyth’s statement to the tribunal on Monday added to her earlier allegations, claiming that the head of Eton’s art department would sometimes paint work for pupils as he talked to them.
He also completed one of Harry’s examination pieces in the prince’s absence, she said.
Forsyth, whose contract with Eton was not renewed during the summer of 2003, also claims she wrote the text to an art project handed in by the prince the previous year, for which Harry thanked her.
”I was concerned that this was unethical and probably constituted to cheating,” her statement said.
”I assumed I had been asked to do this because Prince Harry was a weak student,” she continued, adding that teachers at Eton had been ”desperate” to find ways to award the young royal marks.
”However, I did not think I could tell anyone else about the incident without fear of victimisation and was not aware that statutory protection against such victimisation existed.
”I have recently seen for the first time extracts of the written material which was submitted on Prince Harry’s behalf and can confirm that it was nearly all written by me.”
Eton denies the allegations, and insists Forsyth left the school simply because her teaching was not good enough.
The case is continuing. – Sapa-AFP