Sussexes call photographers near children’s school ‘extraordinarily reckless’

Two men carrying backpacks were seen separately then together walking the perimeter of Archie and Lilibet's UK school, stopping at various points to look into the grounds before leaving in a white rental van. School staff and the family's private security team reported the sighting. Police traced the rental registration and identified one man through the driver's licence used to rent the van as an international European photographer. Archie is 7 and Lilibet is 5. A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan called the conduct extraordinarily reckless, an unacceptable intrusion into children's privacy, and irresponsible near a school, and drew a line between legitimate media activity and monitoring children at school. The spokesperson said certain European paparazzi appear unwilling to respect children's school privacy and that acting this way so soon after the RAF Fairford incident showed an extraordinary lack of judgment. At Fairford, five men were arrested on suspicion of Explosives Act offences and later of preparing a terrorist act; no IEDs were found but petrol was recovered. The couple returned to the UK on Aug. 26. The children spent two days at an original school before moving to a new undisclosed one. RAVEC is reviewing their UK security status after a 2020 ruling that security would be case-by-case; they have relied on privately funded security since the 2020 move to California. The statement did not claim the men entered the grounds. There is no independent confirmation of what images were sought or whether the children were photographed.