Nicolai Haugsted
Harry and Meghan face fresh criticism as theories for why their children were pulled out of school surface.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have barely had time to unpack before their new life in Britain has produced another royal headache.
Their return from California was supposed to give Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet a chance to settle into life in the UK. School was naturally a major part of that transition.
Two days into the new term, however, the first school was already history.
Harry and Meghan removed seven-year-old Archie and five-year-old Lilibet after concerns were raised about the journey between their new home and the school. Their security team concluded that the daily commute created practical problems serious enough to warrant a change.
Now the remarkably short-lived school experiment has attracted criticism from royal commentators, with some questioning whether security tells the whole story.
The school run quickly became a security problem
Trouble emerged during the morning commute.
ITV reports that Harry and Meghan travelled with private security, but heavy traffic near the school separated the family’s vehicle from the car carrying members of their protection team.
Stationary traffic made matters worse.
Following the same route at roughly the same time every school day could establish a predictable pattern, while becoming separated from protection personnel left the family exposed from a security perspective.
Reports suggest the journey could take as long as an hour each way during the school term. The route had previously been tested by the couple’s security team, but those preparations took place before the realities of the term-time school run became apparent.
A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan subsequently explained the decision.
“The decision for the children to move school was taken following a discussion with the family’s security team about the practicalities of their current arrangements,” the spokesperson said to Newsner.
No criticism was directed at the school itself.
“The parents remain extremely grateful to all the teachers and staff for the love, care and effort they have shown their family,” the spokesperson added.
“This decision should in no way be interpreted as a reflection on the school or the exceptional care the children have received there.”
Archie and Lilibet have since started at another school.
Other parents were apparently less than thrilled
Security was not the only complication.
ITV reported that parents began discussing what they called the Sussexes’ “convoy” as the first school days brought unusual disruption around the area. Messages reached school governors, while the headteacher reportedly faced complaints.
Questions also emerged over why the commute had not been fully tested under ordinary school-day conditions.
Timing appears to have played a role.
Places for Archie and Lilibet were reportedly confirmed only in August, shortly before news emerged that the Sussex family was returning to Britain. Security personnel had tested the journey and anticipated heavier term-time traffic, according to ITV, but nobody had experienced the route under the exact conditions the family would encounter every morning.
Critics smell something else
Royal commentators have nevertheless challenged the explanation surrounding the rapid switch.
Biographer Robert Jobson has suggested that the episode may have less to do with an extraordinary security threat and more to do with the realities of getting children to school on time.
“It has been packaged as a major security incident. I think it’s more about an alarm clock and them not getting up in time,” Jobson said, according to the account provided.
His suggestion remains speculation rather than an established explanation for the family’s decision.
Royal commentator Angela Levin has gone considerably further, questioning whether the controversy could be connected to Harry and Meghan’s long-running battle over taxpayer-funded police protection.
“And is there really a problem with lots of traffic in the Cotswolds? Or was it a drama day to put pressure on the government to provide 24/7 security paid for by the public while they do nothing in return?” Levin asked.
No evidence presented in the reports establishes that Harry and Meghan deliberately engineered the school episode to influence the government’s security review.
Harry’s security arrangements have been a source of dispute ever since he and Meghan stepped back as working royals in 2020.
His family no longer automatically receives the same publicly funded police protection available to working senior royals, and the question of their security is once again being reviewed following their return to Britain.
