Trips abroad with just their friends have been off limits, until now. His eldest son is going to Barcelona with friends and no adults next month.
I went to Spain when I was 16, but it feels like the world has changed. Debate about when exactly is it appropriate to let your children go abroad or on their first parent-free holiday has raged this week, after Kirstie Allsopp was forced to defend her decision to allow her year-old son to go Interrailing with a friend. But many other parents take a more open-minded view. Kate Row-Ham, 48, a personal trainer from Brighton, let her eldest son now 18 go to Newquay with six friends when he was I was nervous when my son first went away after his GCSEs, but with apps like Snapchat and Life it makes it much easier to stay in touch with them.
Row-Ham has since let her son go to Ibiza and Mallorca with friends, and is gearing up to let her year-old daughter go to Newquay with her mates next summer. Legally, children over the age of 12 can fly with parental consent, but there is no minimum age to travel on the train alone in the UK or on an Interrail pass in Europe.
For some parents there are compromises to be made. Harriet Morley from Hampshire let her year-old daughter go away with three friends to a house in Wales. But if you do say no to that post-exams trip to Magaluf, expect some heavy disappointment.
Sign up to the Front Page newsletter for free: Your essential guide to the day's agenda from The Telegraph - direct to your inbox seven days a week. Story by Kate Wills. Most parents eventually need to decide when to let their children go on their first holiday without adults - Getty Images. Dan Gregson, a year-old teacher, went to Spain when he was 16, but worries that 'the world has changed since then'.
