Parents at schools attended by Harry and Meghan’s children believe the former royals are using their children—and concerns over their safety—to win a long-running fight against British officials.
Harry was furious when he lost a legal challenge against the U.K. government that would have restored royal-level security for him and his family.
And since the family’s return to Britain, they have again requested beefed-up protection despite no longer being working royals. Officials have announced they are now conducting an official risk assessment.
Parents of other children at the schools Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, had briefly attended last week have told The Royalist they believe he and Meghan have a new “ploy” to improve their bid for taxpayer-funded security: concerns over the school run.
The Sussexes moved Archie and Lilibet to new schools in England this week–days after they started at their first.
It is understood that well-known traffic problems in Oxford made it difficult for their private security team’s separate car to stay close to the kids on the school run.
(Oxford’s traffic is so terrible that last October it became the first British city outside London to impose a congestion charge.)
But one source said: “Literally all people talk about is the traffic in Oxford. Parents spend their time dreaming up strategies to beat it. One favorite is to get up at 5:45, drive in, and go and sit in [a coffee shop] for an hour and have breakfast and do homework there.”
Another parent added: “This was obviously going to happen... They didn’t know there was traffic in Oxford?! This is all just a ploy to get security.”
A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan told Hello! magazine on Monday: “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 Sussex security operation only carried out checks on the school in the summer, saying they “were not able to properly recce the school run until the first day of term.”
The Royal and VIP Executive Committee, the official body in charge of top-level security, will reconsider Harry and Meghan’s police protection after the family returned to the U.K. last month, it has been reported.
The issue has long enraged the prince. He lost his legal challenge against the U.K. government last year, ending hopes of publicly funded armed guards whenever the family returned.
The couple lost automatic protection when they stepped down as working royals in 2020.
Meghan, meanwhile, has been added to a WhatsApp group for parents at the new school, but a mishap has led to her personal phone number being widely seen by parents in the group, according to a report in British newspaper The Sun.
One mom wrote: “Welcome to Meghan who has Archie joining tomo.”
Another added: “Welcome!!”
A reply from Meghan read: “Hi moms! Thanks for the warm welcome (heart emoji) So happy to be a part of this community xx”
Another parent said the children were settling in and everything was “very normal” in the new school. They added that there have been no advisories ordering parents to respect the renegade royals’ privacy, which was “very welcome – they just have to get on with it, and we are not being asked to change anything or do anything or being lectured to.”
Want more royal gossip, scoops and scandal? Follow all Tom Sykes’ reporting at The Royalist on Substack or listen to The Royalist podcast on YouTube.
