The families paying tutors six-figure sums to teach their toddlers how to be British

In a sunlit nursery somewhere in north London, a tutor – one who is presumably able to quote both Shakespeare and Debrett’s – will soon be paid £180,000 a year to ensure his one-year-old charge never mispronounces Belvoir Castle. And yes, a baby who hasn’t yet mastered “mama” and “dada” might seem a tad young to be grappling with the British class system – but according to an advert on Tutors International, this is the perfect age to start cultivating “a truly bicultural child” who could one day attend “Eton, St Paul’s, Westminster or Harrow”.

The successful applicant will have to provide a “comprehensive British cultural environment” to help the boy “become an English gentleman”. Working hours run from 10am to 3pm, and daily tasks will include introducing the baby to “quintessentially British experiences to help hone his habits, outlooks, tastes and sporting preferences”.

Absurd as the advert might seem, it speaks to the fact that Britishness itself remains highly prized by ultra-rich foreign families whose ambitions for their children go far beyond just getting them into a good school. Indeed, in the world of international governors and governesses, this is a version of Britishness that is closer to PG Wodehouse than anything else.

Adam Caller, the founder of Tutors International, explains that the one-year-old’s parents are hoping the governor or governess in question will work with the child for the next decade and that, by the end of their tenure, their son will sound and behave like an upper-class English boy.

Caller, who had to sign an NDA before the family’s surname was disclosed to him, also believes it is right to be starting the child’s education so young. He notes that the parents, who are themselves not British, tried to do something similar with their elder son but only began when he was five, by which point it was too late to achieve their goal.

“Children learn an enormous amount between one and three, and this is about understanding the nuances of cultural exchange and pronunciation, which need to be ingrained from the earliest possible age,” Caller says.

He explains that the family will likely only consider applicants who speak with received pronunciation. “They don’t consider Liverpudlian or Newcastle accents as English,” he says. “There is still a perception that a certain type of English person sounds better-educated because of their accent – whether we like it or not, that is simply the case.”

James Mitchell, one of the co-founders of Think Tutors – a company that only works with individuals with a minimum net worth of around £150m to £200m – agrees that most families will only countenance governors who themselves come from an elite background. “When they speak to me, they tend to quote certain figures, so they’ll want someone who acts or appears to act like a member of the Royal family or a Tory peer.” He adds that if they name someone specific it is almost always Prince William.

The tutor’s educational pedigree, too, is critical. “They have to have been through the London day school system or to a decent boarding school, and then onto Oxford or Cambridge, or Durham at a push,” Mitchell says. “They also need to be people with a lot of life experience – people who are very comfortable being on a yacht or in a chalet or travelling privately; they can’t be overawed by these things.”

Despite our many woes, the way British people talk and behave remains the prize for the majority of these families. “We have some great governors who are from American backgrounds but parents just aren’t interested,” says Mitchell.

While the job involving the one-year-old is based in north London, many governors need to be prepared to travel abroad to countries largely in the Middle East or parts of Asia. Tom, who works with tutoring agency Duke & Duchess International, is one of two governors working for an ultra-wealthy Dubai-based family. The children were two and three when he accepted the role five years ago and he works on rotation with the other tutor, spending two weeks there and two weeks at home in Britain.

In return for a peripatetic life, they get paid huge sums of money. The Tutors International advert received plenty of media attention this week, largely because of the salary involved – but, according to Mitchell, it is a fairly standard fee in these circles.

The only difference, for him, was the fact that this particular role was advertised online. “These are not people who charge £80 per hour to help your child with their maths homework,” says Mitchell. “These are people who would be working as quants [quantitative analysts] or as lawyers in ‘Magic Circle’ firms, so the money has to be significant for them to even consider it.”

However, some say the large sums involved can lead to chancers trying to get their foot in the door. “Not everyone is very posh,” says one educational specialist who sources governors for ultra-rich families. “But a lot of people are pretending to be. If I am being honest, jobs like these can attract all kinds of odd people. A few are ex-school teachers but most are charming, charismatic men who set themselves up as experts but who have actually done all the learning on the job.” She adds that nannies in this world are usually paid £120,000 per year, and that governors would expect more than that.

As for what they teach – it is a mixture of life skills, cultural education and plain old manners. “It is our etiquette that they really want,” explains Tom. “It is politeness and patience and general good manners, which is something that comes naturally to so many English people but which can be highly prized abroad. And of course, they want their children to fit in perfectly at British schools.”

Making sure they are prepared for life in the UK isn’t always easy, however. “These people have their own culture and ways of being and many of them have never really met British people before, and so when I arrive and insist that children eat with a knife and fork and make conversation at the table, I am introducing something entirely new to the household,” says Tom.

Another tutor says that the children they work with can be quite far behind developmentally, largely because they have been excessively pampered for most of their lives. “Because there are so many members of staff trying to please them, you find five-year-olds still being spoon-fed and seven-year-olds acting like three-year-olds – I am sometimes the first person to go in there and set a standard for them,” the tutor says.

Ryan McBride, a privately educated ex-army officer who has worked as a governor for many years, says much of the job comes down to role modelling manners, values and behaviours. “I try to emphasise the importance of being self-reliant, looking people in the eye on meeting them and standing up when introducing yourself.”

In the UK, McBride has taken very young children to museums and exhibitions – as parents often demand such things – but also insisted on showing them a more normal side of life. “For kids based in London it’s finding new things they haven’t done before, which might mean learning to ride a bike or basic survival skills – but also, instead of being driven home from school, we walk and go to the shop, and I show them how to buy things using money or even take them on public transport.”

Another governor, who has asked to remain anonymous, was asked to work with a seven-year-old boy from Kuwait for three months last summer whose family had transplanted themselves to London. The governor struggled to get the boy interested in the many art galleries, museums, cricket matches or plays he was charged with taking him to.

“His English wasn’t as good as I had been led to believe and I actually felt quite sorry for him,” he says. “I wished I could just take him to the park for a kickaround with a football or to introduce him to some other kids his age – but his parents were determined that the long summer break would turn him into a little English boy, which I’m not sure it did.”

This is why many agencies suggest that the earlier these lessons begin the better. “Our youngest student is 11 months old,” says Mitchell. “It is for a family in the Middle East and we have placed a governess in the household to work with the child’s fine motor skills, art skills and, as she starts to learn how to speak, her English skills – and then we will go from there.”

As such children get older, they will start to attend events on the British social calendar, such as Henley Royal Regatta or Goodwood, be taught how to have conversations about politics or current affairs, and be given lessons on pronunciation and eloquence.

“Sometimes I would describe a governor as closer to a cultural attaché than anything else,” says Mitchell. “They are preparing these children for a life where, if they’re speaking to a member of the Royal family or with a prime minister, they will know how to have a sensible conversation – which, given the kind of world they are in, is more likely than you’d think.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]