Like many parents of young children, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have found that school drop-off can be challenging.
Just weeks after moving back to Britain — in time for their son, Archie, 7, and daughter, Lilibet, 5, to start classes — the couple have changed their children’s school. The decision came after their private security team raised concerns about the difficulty of securing the route to school in traffic, according to a spokesman for the family.
The spokesman, who requested anonymity to protect the family’s privacy, shared a statement saying that the family and their security team had discussed “the practicalities of their current arrangements.”
The BBC reported that the drop-off involved two cars, and that the family’s security team found it was hard for the vehicles to travel together in traffic.
The statement said that the decision had nothing to do with the school itself, and added, “The parents remain extremely grateful to all the teachers and staff for the love, care and effort they have shown their family.”
The school’s name and location have not been disclosed.
The switch comes as taxpayer-funded security for the family is under review, according to two people familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private royal matters.
Harry has spent years challenging the British government, so far unsuccessfully, over his family’s security arrangements when they visited Britain from their former home in California. Harry, who stepped back from official duties in 2020, had wanted the automatic protection he was entitled to when he was a working royal, including armed officers with access to intelligence.
He had even offered to pay for the protection, an arrangement the government rejected on the grounds that wealthy people should not be able to buy access to police protection.
With his family back in Britain, those questions have resurfaced.
The committee that oversees security for royals and other public figures, known as Ravec, met last week to discuss the matter, the BBC reported on Monday.
The Home Office, the government department that oversees Ravec, declined to provide additional details.
Meghan’s social media posts have painted a more idyllic picture of their return to Britain after six years in the United States: she and Harry holding hands on a country walk, Lilibet riding a bike, Archie running down a track.
On Tuesday, Meghan wished her husband a happy 42nd birthday, writing on Instagram, “He’s simply the best,” and posting a series of family photos.
Dai Davies, who served as head of royal protection in the 1990s, said that the security arrangements for Prince William’s children offered an example of how royals managed school drop-off without a motorcade.
“Quite often it’s Kate driving with a protection officer beside her,” he said. “There isn’t a convoy.”
