Read it through once

Amidst these surroundings the sons and daughters of the Royal couple were brought up. Upon the education of the boys the Prince of Wales utilized his own knowledge of life as well as the traditions of his father's training of himself. He is said to have believed that the study of men and the ways of the world had not been sufficiently considered in his own case and that he wished his sons, while escaping the nervousness, constraints and adulation which surrounded the Court, should also avoid the sycophancy and flattery which might be expected in their cases at a public school--even of the highest. He therefore decided that a training ship in early youth and the fresh air, vigorous life and wholesome discipline of the Navy in immediately following years would be the best system of education. Prince Albert Victor and Prince George were, consequently, placed on board the _Britannia_ training ship in 1870 and there they spent two years under conditions of study, work, training, mess, discipline and dress exactly similar to those of their shipmates. Their only dissipation was an occasional visit from their parents and the usual holiday period at home. During the two years spent on this ship they learned carpentering, the details of a ship's rigging and a certain amount of engineering.