Nicholas Coleridge

"Eton made a much more profound impact on me than Cambridge, which I would say really made none, and all my attitudes and real friends were made at Eton. The friendships I made at Eton provide the entire infrastructure for my life now. It is probably true to say that of the 10 close male friends I have, certainly eight are Etonians, and I have not the slightest doubt that it will remain so until I die. I am bound to say that if I meet somebody that I have never met before, for example, if I am travelling abroad, or through work or something, and it emerges that they were at Eton, I feel an interest in them that is multiplied by at least 10. There are certain people who weren't there, and I do admit that in some strange and awful way I think, "Now, why weren't they?" and that it counts against them slightly. If we are being completely candid, I do accept that I prefer the company of Etonians to the company of people from any other school in the world."