Prince Harry and Meghan Slam 'Extraordinarily Reckless' Photographers Watching Archie and Lilibet's School

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Prince Harry and Meghan Slam 'Extraordinarily Reckless' Photographers Watching Archie and Lilibet's School

LONDON — Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have condemned photographers seen looking into the grounds of their children's new school in England, calling the behavior "extraordinarily reckless" as British police investigate the incident.

The security scare comes just weeks after the couple moved back to the United Kingdom with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, and as a government committee weighs whether the family should receive taxpayer-funded police protection.

What happened

Two men carrying backpacks were spotted by both private security and school staff walking the perimeter of the school, stopping at various points and staring into the grounds, according to reports. The men were initially seen separately and later observed together before returning to a white van, which police determined was a rental vehicle.

The men were later identified as photographers linked to a European press agency, according to U.K. news agency PA. One of them is understood to be an international press photographer.

The children have been at the school for only about two weeks. The incident has been passed on to the Home Office committee that is assessing the family's claim for official protection.

Sussexes' spokesperson responds

A spokesperson for the couple issued a sharply worded statement criticizing the photographers' conduct.

"The decision by photographers to conduct themselves in this way around a school is extraordinarily reckless," the spokesperson said. "There is a world of difference between legitimate media activity and photographers walking the perimeter of a school, stopping to look into the grounds and monitoring children as they go about their day."

The statement added that it was "concerning enough that certain European paparazzi appear unwilling to respect the privacy of children at school." It also referenced a recent incident at RAF Fairford, saying the photographers' behavior so soon afterward showed an extraordinary lack of judgment.

"Whatever photographs they may have been seeking, this was not only an unacceptable intrusion into the privacy of children; it was an irresponsible and ill-considered way to conduct themselves in the vicinity of a school," the spokesperson said.

British press rules do not apply abroad

Members of the British media have followed a request from the Independent Press Standards Organisation, the country's independent press regulator, not to identify the school Archie and Lilibet attend or the location of the family's home.

However, photographers working for companies based outside Britain are not bound by the same rules, a gap highlighted by the latest incident.

The Sussexes have kept their children largely out of the public eye in recent years. They have not brought them to public events and have avoided sharing photos of their faces on social media.

Second school in weeks

The incident marks the latest disruption to the children's schooling since the family's return. Harry and Meghan moved the children to their current school earlier this month after pulling them from a previous school after just two days, when their security team raised concerns about heavy traffic along the route.

The family moved back to the U.K. in August and is thought to be living at a private property in the Cotswolds area, according to the BBC.

Security review underway

The episode adds new urgency to the long-running dispute over the family's security arrangements. The Royal and VIP Executive Committee, known as RAVEC, is assessing the family's eligibility for taxpayer-funded protection after Harry lost his Court of Appeal challenge on security in May 2025.

Now that the family are full-time residents rather than visitors, RAVEC is expected to reconsider their level of police protection. The committee will assess risks they face in their new home as well as the family's routines, including regular travel routes and school runs.

Taxpayer-funded protection is typically given to working royals, a role Harry and Meghan gave up in 2020 when they stepped back from royal duties and moved to California. In the meantime, the couple is paying for private security and has added measures to increase protection at their new home, according to ITV News.

Harry, who is fifth in line to the British throne and a veteran of the British Army, has long maintained that he faces multiple threats. According to a report seen by ITV News earlier this year, those include a threat to his life made by al-Qaeda in 2023 that was picked up by the FBI on a closed Telegram chat.

A long, fraught history with the press

The school incident is the latest chapter in Harry's contentious relationship with the media, which intensified when he began dating Meghan in 2016. That November, Kensington Palace issued an unusually strong statement on his behalf condemning a "wave of abuse and harassment" directed at Meghan.

Harry has repeatedly linked his family's treatment to the experience of his mother. "I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces," he said in a 2019 statement. Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by photographers.

In 2021, a year after stepping back as working royals, Harry told talk show host James Corden that the British press "was destroying my mental health."

Concerns over paparazzi have followed the family across continents. In 2023, the couple's office said they were involved in a "near catastrophic" car chase with photographers after attending an awards event in New York. Years earlier, in 2020, they sued unnamed paparazzi in California, accusing photographers of taking images of their son Archie in the backyard of their home.

Harry has also taken British tabloids to court several times. In 2023, he won a phone-hacking case against Mirror Group Newspapers. In 2025, he settled with Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, receiving an apology and substantial damages.

Not every legal battle has gone his way. In July, Harry and six other claimants, including Elton John, lost a privacy case against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers. In August, they were ordered to make an initial payment of 9.5 million pounds, or about $13 million, toward the publisher's legal costs.

British police are continuing to investigate the incident at the school. The outcome of RAVEC's review, which is expected to weigh the family's day-to-day risks, including the children's school runs, could determine whether the Sussexes receive publicly funded protection in Britain for the first time since stepping back from royal life.

For now, the family remains reliant on private security as they settle into life back in England, where the latest episode has renewed a debate over how far the press can go in pursuit of images of royal children.