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.”
“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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- Third Annual World Mental Health Day Gala hosted by Project Healthy Minds held at Spring Studios,Image: 1044459731, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Meghan,the Duchess of Sussex, Credit line: Udo Salters/Wenn/Avalon
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- Third Annual World Mental Health Day Gala hosted by Project Healthy Minds held at Spring Studios,Image: 1044459735, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Credit line: Udo Salters/Wenn/Avalon
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- Third Annual World Mental Health Day Gala hosted by Project Healthy Minds held at Spring Studios,Image: 1044459736, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Credit line: Udo Salters/Wenn/Avalon
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- Prince Harry taking part in Goat Yoga Prince Harry taking part in Scotty’s Summer Festival at Maxstoke Castle, Birmingham . Scotty’s is a military bereavement charity that provides relief from the effects of grief for bereaved military children and young people who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the British Forces. 11 July 2026,Image: 1115961879, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Heathcliff O’Malley for the Telegraph/Avalon
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- Prince Harry taking part in Goat Yoga Prince Harry taking part in Scotty’s Summer Festival at Maxstoke Castle, Birmingham . Scotty’s is a military bereavement charity that provides relief from the effects of grief for bereaved military children and young people who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the British Forces. 11 July 2026,Image: 1115961883, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Heathcliff O’Malley for the Telegraph/Avalon
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- Prince Harry arrives at Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, England, UK on Monday 21 September, 2026 to attend the WellChild Awards.,Image: 1137079813, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
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- Prince Harry arrives at Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, England, UK on Monday 21 September, 2026 to attend the WellChild Awards.,Image: 1137079814, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no , Credit line: Justin Ng/Avalon
I bet this sort of memo went out at the Wales’ kids school and no one batted an eye.
Or the Daily Mail didn’t report it.
We had the same article before the Sussexes even moved, right after it was known they will, and had the children already enrolled in school. Apparently more than one school sent an email about not taking photographs (same as Eton, BTW), and people who actually have children at school chimed in, saying they get this very email every year. Some people complained “I am not allowed to take pictures of my child’s first day at school!” which made me laugh because that was a comment on parents not allowed to take pictures at ETON! It is a standard practice. Some people love to post photos of their children at school or sports, while others don’t want their children on social media at all. Nothing to do with the Sussexes, schools make sure parents are aware that photos of other children can only be published with their parents’ consent, even on a private Instagram account.
Such a nothingburger, the one parent complaining has either a child just starting pre-school, or was never involved. Maybe he should ask the child’s mother.
As an ex-Chair of Governors in a UK school I can assure you this message was sent out to EVERY parent at the beginning of each school year I presided over (10 years.)
Also, there would be a reminder at the Xmas concert, the Summer Concert and sports days.
This is standard practice and in line with child safety concerns.
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.
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.
There was a big fuss about george going to school and no outrage from media
Eton has a reputation to keep.
All schools have a reputation to keep. It’s a business.
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.
@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.
I don’t think that anyone gave it a thought 40 years ago. Not many cameras of course and photography was an expensive hobby.
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.
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?
Some schools don’t allow parents to take photographs at all, not even when they are on the pitch (if playing football). So you usually see parents posting photos of them taken post-match of before they leave the house or in the car park when there are no other children or parents around.
As some people have said: the furious parents are the ones who had hoped to “accidentally” capture images of Archie and Lili then claim that they just happened to be in the same frame as their own children. And notices about “No photography” are posted, particularly about other royal children, and parents not only respect it, they don’t raise a stink about it as these people are doing. The fact that they need to run to the media with every little thing about the Sussexes and even the Sussex children shows that those two “posh” schools have many parents who are total and utter trash. I sincerely hope that teachers aren’t singling the children out for subtle microaggressive treatment, because you just KNOW that there will be a few like that.
If you post it though you can blur those kids faces and put stickers on top of them. That’s what all of my friends with kids do. If it’s not their kid, they make sure it’s not shown.
Loads of schools all over the world don’t allow parents to take any pics,especially with other kids in the back. It’s pretty well known.
Its a big deal to parents who don’t want people taking photos of their children.
Re: “Like…I don’t know how you do that.”
Two methods come to mind here.
1: Carry a large stack of photo consent forms, so that you can try to solicit approval from other childrens’ guardians to post pix of their underage charges on your preferred advertising platform (FaceBook, Instagram, X[itter], TikTok, local phone pole, etc.) With this method, you should avoid showing surprise that, when properly asked, people do NOT want personally identifiable data about their families used by someone else in a way where they have absolutely no control over it.
2. Learn how to use photo editing tools on your camera phone (ie ‘Edit’ option in the app). Also use built-in tools on Meta platforms, such as ‘Sticker’ or ‘Emoji’ to block posting of other children’s faces. Learn how to zoom in tightly when taking pictures, and learn how to use ‘Crop’ tools to remove personally identifiable data that you have not received permission to share. If the built-in tools on your camera equipment are not sufficient to prevent sharing other persons’ info, learn how to download privacy photo-editing apps, and learn how to use them
Addendum: There are obviously more options and suggestions for #2. To learn more about them, I would suggest searching the internet — I used the phrase “how to block pictures of other children when posting” querying Google on Firefox web browser; the Google AI response was quite good and referenced six (6) underlying websites covering issues of child safety in addition to technical solutions. Regardless of which method you choose, it’s important to recognize modern threats to child safety and how to deal with them.
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.
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.
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.
Grand parents might not to even know about it,
My experience it’s usually parents. In their 30s/40s. Don’t blame older people. I had to tell someone who was about 40 that she shouldn’t post pics of her 8 to 14 yr old with full make-up and certain clothing on the internet. I know where they’ll end up. Took a long time but she stopped, thankfully.
It’s a great security risk for A&L. It’s also a security risk for adults. I’m not on social media and people that know me, know they can’t share a photo of me on social media. My own reasons-even if it’s a great pic.
Quit a golf league because one of the people that ran it kept putting up photos of me on their page after I expressed to them NO. They weren’t bad photos either. She just didn’t have the right to share photos of me after I told her not to. Told her, “What if I was in a witness protection program just wanting to have fun and you’re putting my whereabouts on social media?”.
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).
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
💯💯💯💯
After the whatsapp leak, I finally understood that the british tabloids are a reflection of the british society…that’s why that type of gutter journalism thrives in the UK
This is so dumb. I wouldn’t want my kids photographed by anyone either. Especially in this day of Ai and fuckery going on with manipulating images.
Why is this parent so upset about not being able to take pictures of someone ELSE’S children?? It’s giving weirdo and it’s giving I want to sell the pics for money.
“Everyone is very down to earth and normal here.”
Normal, down-to-earth people don’t talk to tabloids about other parents/children at the school. It was a simple reminder and shouldn’t bother anyone who is following the policy. This parent is begging for Meghan to join some parents’ group so they have gossip to spread/sell about the family.
Good point. So down to earth they they’re talking to a tabloid about how down to earth they are. You can’t make this stuff up. And after the violation with the WhatsApp group, please, ofc there’s a reminder. This new school doesn’t want to look as unprofessional and lacking in privacy as the other school.
Exactly!
I’m sure all the schools send out that reminder at the beginning of the school term every year. But if this patent is talking to the tabloids then they clearly DON’T know the boundaries.
Most phones cameras have an edit feature, just crop out the other kids in the photo before sharing.
I find it funny they didn’t get people talking crap about them when the kids were going to US schools, but the we are so posh British keep complaining. Freaking AH do want pictures of them to get money. Look at now two separate women leaking Meghan’s phone/text and another taking a side view pic of her. Bah.
Honestly these reminders should go out every year. I take pictures of other kids – sometimes at events its hard not to – like play day or the school play etc – but I don’t post without parent permission.
And yeah, agree with Kaiser and others – clearly the parents do NOT know the boundaries if they’re complaining to the press about it.
Private schools have photographers taking pictures of events and (if permission given) these are the ones they want circulating as it’s promotion for the school. So this rule will almost certainly have already been in existence anyway.
Even at state schools it’s often reminded for parents. For instance my son was in a schools swimming gala, notice went out that there would be no photos allowed, fair enough – don’t want a bunch of randoms taking pics of him in his trunks.
Even if there was an emphasis, it’s surely understandable that they wouldn’t want pictures of famous kids being sold around. Surely William’s kids’ schools would ensure this doesn’t happen either.
If this parent isn’t made up by the tabloid, their negative attitude would be absorbed by their children and affect their attitude toward the Sussex children.
It’s going to happen eventually
I’m surprised that Meghan hasn’t decided to release a photo on her own terms. At least it would stop some creep from a very large pay day.
This wasn’t an issue in Montecito.
This complaining parent sounds like such a Karen (do Brits use “Karen” as the shorthand for whiny white women?). I’m sorry Meghan has to deal with this crap now.
I mean this is common courtesy in my opinion. People shouldn’t be taking photos of other people’s children. Plus the press didn’t seem to have a problem when Eton put up a sign restricting photos.
This is fake as most of their stories are
I just realized that the parent whining – who is so down-to-earth that they complain to the Mirror – is from a neighboring school. They thought they’d have the chance to “accidentally” photograph the kids and are angry they were blocked and reminded to be better people (and parents).
One for California. Parents didn’t go running to the tabloids, whining how offended they were at being reminded of normal policy.
Another made-up BS story, conjured out of thin air by some desperate hack at the Mirror.
Every night these people sit in front of their laptops thinking “what on Earth am I going to come up with for my anti-Meghan story tomorrow morning???”
Then they use their AI BS Story Generator to concoct something which sounds vaguely like it could be true and… presto! They can poop out their article to the unsuspecting masses and generate actual clicks!
How snowflakey can you get? I get mails like that a couple of times every school year. Whenever there’s an event you’re reminded about the no photographs of other people’s kids rule, plus at the start and sometimes seemingly randomly in a newsletter. It’s a rule that people seem to break all the time, so obviously you get reminders. Honestly, these English people 🙄
But aren’t they furious already bc the Sussexes attended “their” school? This could easily be made up. I’m sure many are thrilled the children are there. I would be.
Parents are predictably irritated that they can’t snap photos of Archie and Lili and make some coin. The rota probably got to some of them, promising nice financial compensation for the money shot.
I’m sure this is a standard notice the school sends out to parents at the beginning of every school year.
jfc Don’t blame H & M for every little thing.
uck!