Harry and Meghan have condemned two photographers who were seen monitoring their children’s new school in England, calling the behavior “extraordinarily reckless” and an intrusion into children’s privacy. A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle addressed the incident in a statement to Us Weekly on Wednesday.
According to Us Weekly, the two men, photographers working for a European press agency, were spotted around the school grounds. Harry and Meghan’s representatives said the photographers’ actions were “concerning” and showed an unwillingness to respect children’s privacy at school.
Harry and Meghan’s statement on the incident
“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 couple’s representatives said in their statement to Us Weekly.
Other outlets reported that private security and school staff noticed the pair, who carried backpacks and were later traced by police to a white rental van.
The couple’s team said the timing made the incident worse. “To behave in this manner in these particular circumstances, and so soon after the incident at RAF Fairford, demonstrates an extraordinary lack of judgment,” the statement continued.
That was a reference to Sunday’s arrests near RAF Fairford, a Gloucestershire air base used by U.S. forces, where counterterrorism police detained five men on suspicion of explosives offenses and preparing a terrorist act, Time reported.
Recent move to the U.K.
Harry, 42, and Meghan, 45, stepped back from senior royal duties in 2020 and settled in California. They moved to the U.K. with their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, in late August and enrolled the kids in a local school.
Security concerns have already prompted one major decision. Harry and Meghan moved their children to a different school in mid-September after just days at the first one. “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,” a Sussex representative told Hello! at the time.
The switch also came after Meghan’s phone number was reportedly leaked from a parents’ WhatsApp group, adding to the family’s privacy concerns. For more royal coverage, see our look at Prince Philip’s comment after the couple’s wedding and the rest of our celebrity news.
Reporting from Us Weekly contributed to this story.
