Eton College controversies

There have been many controversies concerning Eton College, sometimes called the most famous school in the world. In 2005, The Guardian claimed that "Eton is no stranger to scandalous allegations, nor to claims that it tries to prevent them leaking out."

Tallulah Bankhead (1928)

Tallulah Bankhead, an American actress, made her debut on the London stage at Wyndham's Theatre in 1923 and soon became well known, appearing in many plays in London and across Great Britain's theatres throughout the Roaring Twenties. In the 1920s, the Home Office and MI5 were instructed to look into rumours that she was seducing boys at Eton. The headmaster, Cyril Alington, was unwilling to share what he knew and was anxious to keep the story out of the newspapers. One of the investigators noted on his file: "The headmaster is obviously not prepared to assist the Home Office by revealing what he knows of her exploits with some of the boys. He wants to do everything possible to keep Eton out of the scandal".

Lottery grant (1995)

In 1995, the National Lottery granted £3 million towards a new sports complex, estimated to cost £4.6m, to add to Eton's existing facilities of two swimming pools, thirty cricket pitches, twenty-four football and hockey pitches, tennis courts, a gymnasium, and so on. The school was to pay £200,000 and contribute 4.5 hectares of land, in return for exclusive use of the facilities during the daytime only, and there would be community use at other times. The Sports Council defended the deal, on the grounds that the whole community would benefit, while the Eton College bursar stated that the Windsor, Slough and Eton Athletic Club was deprived and local people who were not pupils at the College did not have a world-class running track and facilities for training. Steve Osborn, director of the Safe Neighbourhoods Unit, described the decision as "staggering", given the background of a substantial reduction in youth services by councils across the country, a matter over which, however, neither Eton nor the Sports Council had any control.