Royal College Colombo was established in 1835 as “Hills Street Academy” and converted to “Colombo Academy” (Former names of Royal) in 1836. In 1881 it was named Royal , name which we all know today. Royal is one of the oldest government schools and is the best in Sri Lanka. It has a student population of around 8,000 and offers the best facilities both in education and co-curricular activities.
The Royal College Union (RCU) is the alumni society (old boys association) of the college and was founded in 1891.It is the oldest such alumni society with a membership exceeding 20,000 spread across Sri Lanka & around the world. The RCU has a very close association with the college and continuously help the college authorities to uplift the academic as well as co-curricular activity standards at Royal.