Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal is a boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in January 1835, as part of the implementation of the recommendations of the Colebrooke–Cameron Commission (1833), and was the first government-run secondary school for boys in the country.
Royal College is the first public school in Sri Lanka and is often referred to as the "Eton of Sri Lanka". The school was founded in the British public school tradition, based on the recommendations of the Colebrooke–Cameron Commission (1833), and having been named the Royal College, Colombo in 1881 with consent from Queen Victoria. It became the first school to gain the prefix "Royal" outside of the British Isles. It was one of the first schools to be designated as a national school by the Sri Lankan Government in the 1980s.
As a national school, it is funded by the government as opposed to the provincial council providing both primary and secondary education. The school was recognised as one of the most innovative educational institutions in the world at the fifth annual Worldwide Innovative Education Forum (IEF), organised by the Microsoft Corporation in 2009.
The students of Royal College are known as Royalists or referred to in the press as Colombo Royalists. whilst past pupils are known as Old Royalists. The school has produced many distinguished alumni, among whom are presidents of two countries, a sultan, and four prime ministers.
