Parents are furious with the Sussexes’ reminder to not photograph Archie & Lili

For the past week, the British tabloids’ clownish fixation on the Sussex family was put on pause as Charles Spencer’s Swan Song revelations became the biggest story of the month/year. Obviously, there were still Sussex stories circulating, but the Earl Spencer really provided one week of breathing room for his nephew and his nephew’s family. Now that Swan Song is out, the royalists clearly believe they can go back to “business as usual.” Their business as usual is a national gaslighting campaign over the interest in the Sussex family. Last week, Prince Harry and Meghan had to remove their kids from their British schools due to school run concerns, and then on top of that, the school mums screenshotted and leaked Meghan’s texts in the school-mum WhatsApp. The screenshots were published in the Sun, and it’s believed that Meghan’s cell phone number was widely leaked as well. So, Meghan and Harry have every reason to proceed with caution, right? Then why is this a story?

Parents visiting the school where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have moved their children to have received warnings over taking photos of pupils.

Guidance has been issued over the expected conduct of parents and care-givers of students at the village prep-school, after the Duchess of Sussex’s phone number was shared from a parents’ WhatsApp chat.

Parents at neighbouring schools, which play sport against each other, have been reminded to only take photos of their own children when supporting the team. In a letter sent to parents this week, one school stressed “the importance of only taking photos of your own children”.

One parent told The Mirror : “It can’t be a coincidence that these notices are going out now just after Harry and Meghan have moved their children into the local area. It’s complete overkill, everyone knows the boundaries, and could you imagine the uproar from other parents if someone was discovered purposely taking pictures of children that weren’t theirs. I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come because it’s totally unnecessary.”

The children’s new school is just a short drive from their temporary home, avoiding built up areas. The Mirror is not identifying the schools or the family’s location. One parent at Archie and Lilibet’s new school described two 4×4 cars “rushing” down the country lane near to the school, before Harry and Meghan exited with their security team and children outside the school entrance on their first day.

The parent said: “Everyone is very down to earth and normal here. We all help each other and help out whenever we can with school events. We would hope all new parents want to get involved and immerse themselves in school life and the wider community.”

[From The Daily Mirror]

“It’s complete overkill, everyone knows the boundaries…” Clearly they do not know the boundaries if Meghan’s WhatsApp messages were leaked, screenshotted and sold to the tabloids within a few days? Yes, I understand that happened at a different school (a posher school, by the sound of it), but it’s important for Harry and Meghan to establish their rules and boundaries immediately. “Could you imagine the uproar from other parents if someone was discovered purposely taking pictures of children that weren’t theirs…” Well, judging from the WhatsApp story, if and when other parents take photos of Archie and Lili, the British press and the other parents will blame… Harry and Meghan. This unnamed parent sounds like a hit dog hollerin’.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Meghan’s Instagram.

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17 Responses to “Parents are furious with the Sussexes’ reminder to not photograph Archie & Lili”

  1. Krista says:

    I bet this sort of memo went out at the Wales’ kids school and no one batted an eye.

  2. anna says:

    clearly they do NOT know boundaries if they’re leaking the policy about not leaking! it may not even be about them, but if it is, just asking people not to take/share photos of their children seems to give them an excuse to call the tabloids. these parents have the mirror and daily mail on speed dial. I really hope things get better but this is not a good sign to the start of the year. meghan and harry did not have this problem at their american schools.
    also I’m sure a similar thing went out for george et al, but we never heard about it.

    • sunniside up says:

      There was on about George but of course they covered all the children. I think this has got more to do with the papers than the parents. But of course it only takes one. But judging by the comment about not naming the school I think the papers would refuse to publish them anyway. More likely to happen on social media.

  3. Tessa says:

    There was a big fuss about george going to school and no outrage from media

  4. AnneStavely says:

    I’m in the UK and our school has a clear rule to not take and or post pics of children that aren’t your own. I think that’s pretty universal, right? This is just the British media making mountains out of avocados as they always do about the Sussex Family.

    • LauraD says:

      @AnneStavely – I came on to say exactly the same thing! The media making a huge outcry over a well known rule (which every parent is already aware of) implies that “someone” was trying to bend it. For example the press printing a picture of a random child at sports day who just so happened to be standing next to Archie and/or Lili.

      • sunniside up says:

        I don’t think that anyone gave it a thought 40 years ago. Not many cameras of course and photography was an expensive hobby.

    • Hypocrisy says:

      Even though I personally feel no one should be posting any children on websites or social media whatsoever, I do realize that is unrealistic everyone I know personally follows the rule you just stated, if they post their own children they never post other people’s children not even emoji blocked faces.. my grandchildren are never posted by anyone, I don’t understand why anyone would ever be upset about this, it’s a ridiculous thing to upset yourself over but Karens aren’t hard to find and are a cross border issue.

  5. Christine says:

    The problem is….I take photos of my kids in sports and robotics competition and there are naturally other kids (teenagers) in the photos because of how sport and robotics work. Like….I dont know how you do that. But also this is a special case and to help the Sussex kids be safe, it isnt that much to ask. And, I am sure this is true for every royal kid since cameras were invented so what is the big deal?

  6. sunniside up says:

    Decent people won’t do it. If they do catch one of the children accidently they can always delete it. Or if they really need a picture of their child winning a race they just keep it to themselves. The whole idea of not taking pictures of other people’s children is too protect them all. They should be keen.

    • Lorelei says:

      That’s exactly it. Decent people won’t do it, and they wouldn’t need a letter telling them not to. They’d be aware of the security risks, and having young children themselves, wouldn’t want to compromise Archie or Lilibet. The issue is (IMO) there are a lot of people who aren’t “decent” and will do it for attention or money or whatever if they get the opportunity. But that would be true in CA as well. It’s just such a scary situation for the Sussexes.

  7. Juliek says:

    How is reminding parents and families about this policy a bad thing?! I kept asking for a message sent out at my kids’ schools. So many parents and grandparents taking & sharing pictures and videos of their kid in wide shots with other children in the frame. There are so many privacy and security reasons to protect images of non-famous children on the internet, especially if they inform about real life locations. It’s infuriating that they make this a negative and blame H&M.

  8. Al says:

    For a bunch of people who are supposed to be so aristocratic, rich and unbothered, they sure leak/talk a lot. This nonsense never happened in California, never. These so-called ultra wealthy people are very bothered by Meghan even existing in “their” space. All that money and wealth, and they’re still stuck on Meghan…how very sad (racism is a disease).

  9. Anonymous says:

    I know this is not their intention but my opinion of British people has significantly changed.
    It was a wonder to me how the tabloids continue to dictate the narrative even though people are always saying “people don’t believe what they write”.
    But….let me tell you something….the sharing/selling of the WhatsApp message and now this has convinced me that the British population as a whole seems to need a serious intervention…..sigh

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