Harry, 13, will enrol at the world famous public school, where fees are nearly £15,000 each year, for the new term on September 2.

The prince is said to be "thrilled" by his exam success.

Harry will joing William in Manor House

It is expected that Harry will be a boarder in Manor House, the same house as his brother in the centre of Eton.

The school is situated just across the River Thames from Windsor Castle, the Queen's favourite weekend retreat.

Harry sat the entrance exam last week at Ludgrove, his Berkshire prep school.

A spokeswoman at St James's Palace said: "The Prince of Wales is delighted with the news that Prince Harry has passed the Common Entrance Exam and has been accepted into Eton College next September.

"Prince Harry is thrilled."

On his first day Harry will, like William three years ago, sign the enrolment book.

He will then settle into Manor House under housemaster and historian Dr Andrew Gailey and be shown his private room.

It is thought that Eton was the Royals' first choice partly because of the support William can give his younger brother after the death of their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Security in place

Security is already in place at Eton - for William - and Harry's attendance will not greatly add to the police presence. Harry has his own personal protection officer, like his brother.

Students at Eton are known for their historic uniform of black tailcoats and waistcoat, pin-stripe trousers, winged collars and white bow-tie, first adopted in 1820 in mourning for the death of King George III.

Prince Harry's schooldays will start with breakfast at 7.30am, followed an hour later by chapel.

Prince Charles is delighted

Lessons end at about 5.00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays are half days, but boys are expected to spend their free time in study, sports or attending one of the school's hundreds of clubs.

Eton was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI and has educated 19 Prime Ministers, many more of the country's nobility and plenty of foreign dignitaries from the King of Nepal to the Maharajah of Jodhpur.

William is the first British king-in-waiting to attend the school.

The type of questions asked in the exam Prince Harry sat would include:

• Geography - Briefly describe how a volcano is formed.

  (Volcanos are formed by molten rock beneath the earth's crust forcing its way through cracks and weak spots and spilling out as lava.)

• Chemistry - What is the approximate percentage of nitrogen in normal air?.

  (Nitrogen makes up approximately 80% of the air.)

• Physics - Sound cannot travel through; metal, water, wood or a vacuum ?.

  (Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.)

• Biology - Organisms use carbohydrates as their main source of; energy, growth materials, vitamins or water?.

  (Organisms use carbohydrates as their main source of energy.)

• History - Why did Charles I decide to rule without Parliament between 1629 and 1640?

  (Charles I decided to rule without Parliament between 1629 and 1640 because Parliament refused to vote him the right to levy customs duties.)