Royals Just Ripping Off Downton Abbey Plot Lines Now

Prince William is going back to school. And what’s the Duke of Cambridge, the man second in line to the throne of the United Kingdom, going to study? Farming, basically. Just like that time Cousin Matthew (R.I.P.) decided he’d better whip Downton into shape.

See, Bill (can I call you Bill?) has recently wrapped up his military service, and now it’s time to settle on a vocation—besides waiting around for his relatives to die, of course. Country gentleman being a time-honored career for the sons of England’s aristocracy, US Weekly reports that he’ll be enrolling full-time in a 10-week “bespoke” “executive education” program in agricultural management at Cambridge, starting in early January.

This isn’t some crash-course on horse gelding, hog slaughtering and beekeeping, though. It’s run by the Programme for Sustainability Leadership and will “help provide the Duke with an understanding of contemporary issues affecting agricultural business and rural communities in the United Kingdom.” So he’ll have a leg up when it’s time to manage the 130,000-acre Duchy of Cornwall, traditionally held by the Prince of Wales, the Guardian reports.

No doubt he’ll have all sorts of brash, new-fangled ideas! And don’t forget to tune in next week, when one of Fergie’s daughters elopes with a limo driver, while Harry just laughs and laughs at the lot of them.