Prince Harry and Meghan have criticized photographers seen monitoring the perimeter of their children’s UK school, calling the behavior an unacceptable intrusion into Archie and Lilibet’s privacy.
School staff and the family’s private security personnel observed two men moving around the perimeter before returning to a white van.
ITV News reported that police traced the vehicle to a rental booking and identified the driver as an international photographer. The men were understood to have links to a European press agency.
The school’s location has not been publicly identified, with British media organizations observing a request from the Independent Press Standards Organisation not to disclose details that could identify the children’s school or the family’s home.
A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan said there is a distinction between legitimate media work and photographers walking around a school while looking into its grounds and monitoring children.
The couple described the conduct as “extraordinarily reckless” and said it represented an unacceptable intrusion into the privacy of children.
A Second School Security Concern
The latest incident follows an earlier change in the children’s education arrangements. Archie and Lilibet were moved from their first UK school shortly after starting because their security team had concerns about the daily journey, particularly traffic and the possibility of the family’s vehicles becoming separated during the commute.
The children subsequently began attending another school, with Harry later telling CTV that they were “happy in school.” The school incident also comes while Harry and Meghan’s security arrangements in Britain are being reviewed.
ITV News reported that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as RAVEC, is reassessing the couple’s circumstances following their return to the UK.
Harry and Meghan currently use private security while awaiting the outcome of that review. ITV News reported that the assessment does not itself guarantee any increase in protection.
The incident adds another chapter to Harry’s long-running conflict with sections of the press.
His concerns about intrusive photography have previously been linked to his mother Princess Diana’s death in 1997, and he has pursued several legal cases involving British media organizations.
Reuters reported that the couple’s latest dispute centers specifically on photographers’ conduct around their children’s school.
Police inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the photographers continue, while RAVEC’s separate assessment of Harry and Meghan’s security arrangements remains ongoing. The school and family’s current home location have not been publicly disclosed.
Sources: BBC News, PA Media, ITV News, Reuters
