I’ve generally avoided covering the endless back-and-forth over the Sussex family’s security since they announced their return to Britain. Every time I hear anything, I just feel sort of disgusted by how careless everyone has been, up to and including the Home Office, RAVEC, the Met Police, King Charles, Prince Harry and Meghan. Granted, I’m positive that Harry and Meghan have their private security with them in the UK, but Harry’s volte-face on police protection has been shocking. Those people have spent YEARS screwing him over and controlling him over security, and he’s just rewarded his tormentors by delivering his wife and children back on his tormentors’ home turf. Well, the Telegraph had another article which was partially sourced from Team Sussex (don’t @ me, some of this is absolutely coming from Harry’s camp). It’s all about how there are security concerns about the school run. This is, in my opinion, Harry publicly applying pressure on the Home Office.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s biggest security concern on returning to the UK is the school run, The Telegraph understands. The couple’s children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, will start at their new British prep school next week. However, the family is still waiting for answers from the Home Office about whether they will receive any form of taxpayer-funded police protection in the longer term.
The Duke was told in July that the risk assessment for which he had long fought had finally been conducted. Since then, he has sent multiple letters to the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) and the Home Secretary, pleading for answers about its findings. He continues to believe that he is being denied protection as a form of “punishment” for quitting royal duties and that the delay in responding to his change in circumstances is a form of “game play”.
The daily school run presents specific challenges because of the repetitive nature of shuttling to and from the same place every day at the same time.
“It is absolutely the biggest area of concern,” one friend said. “It creates the most dangers.”
The Duchess once suggested that she would never be able to do the school run in the UK without it turning into a media frenzy. While that is unlikely to be the case, the couple remain concerned about unregulated paparazzi, international media outlets and images circulated on social media as well as the threat from “lone wolf” actors intent on harm.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’s three children are thought to benefit from discreet protection from armed officers while they are at school. However, they have been left alone to enjoy school life in privacy, like any other pupil.
Despite relocating to the UK with their nanny, the Duke and Duchess intend to continue to do the school run themselves as often as possible, just as they did in Montecito. The couple do not plan to publicly disclose the name of their chosen school, although they are aware that as soon as the children return – and letters will be sent to parents – it will become widely known. Various policies and procedures have been put in place, with teachers given special training.
Scott Hamer, who worked in the Metropolitan Police’s royalty and specialist protection unit for 14 years until 2022, said the school run would always prove a headache.
“The whole point of protection is to keep the diary as tight as possible, to ensure people who might want to do bad things do not have the opportunity to do so,” he said. “With the school run, you can vary the route as much as you like but the start and end point will almost always be the same. It’s really, really difficult.”
Sure. I agree, the school run is concerning. I agree, the Sussexes should get some police protection, especially when it’s about their kids. But for the life of me, I do not understand why Harry and Meghan have decided that this is the way to handle this particular security issue. I hope the kids stay safe – not just from paparazzi desperate for any sighting, but from the actual security threats.
Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram.
Harry, Harry, Harry
Meghan, Archie, Lili, Doria, and yes Harry are in my prayers
This just sounds like the tabloid is begging for a confrontation. I am personally fearful for their safety
Harry has repeatedly said that the sticking point for him is that private security can carry guns in the US but not in the UK. That being the case and knowing full well as of right now, your family is not getting armed security, why in the world would you move your young kids???? And why would Meghan go along with this???
So let’s move and put the kids in school without security in place. More and more it seems Harry made this move to dare them not to protect them. Unfortunately he still doesn’t understand Charles does not care. Did he think that after July, when Charles pulled a place to stay and there was no security, that when he STILL presented his kids to Charles, and only got 30 mins of his time he would suddenly love Harry and his kids and totally make sure they had security? He is looking like a fool. And the sources say crap is getting tiring, it allows the press to add their own sources and mix it in with real ones. Speak for yourself and stop with this sources nonsense( I agree it is coming from them) Be clear and firm and direct or don’t say anything at all, they are losing credibility. I think Harry thinks they don’t want another Diana tragedy, and will do anything to prevent it, when in reality they are all hoping for one, and Harry will receive the blame.
I hate to say this but I agree. It would feed their coffers for years.
I think that hiding their kids from public view both makes complete sense, as parents, and can backfire, as public figures, because the public doesn’t feel attachment to faceless children. Think how much grace Harry got for bad behavior because the public had seen his little face since infancy. Think about the outpouring of love for the boys when Diana died because everyone thought they knew them. W & K have been very strategic about letting the public attach to their kids without over-exposing them.
You are absolutely right about the negative part of anonymity. Imagine how differently we’d feel if we had never seen the Jolie kids; probably less protective and certainly less invested. As Prince, Harry feels entitled to royal protection but Charles made it clear that no level of threat gives that privilege to private citizens.
Whether or not the public is fed a steady diet of the faces of H&M’s children, it wont make them feel any greater attachment to those kids than they had to Harry.
How do you account for the fact that we are seeing and have been seeing IN REAL TIME, that despite seeing Harry’s face in public almost every day from the time he was merely hours old when his mother had to present him to a phalanx of media hordes from the steps of the hospital where he was born; thru his entire childhood; to his sad little 12 year old self walking behind his mother’s coffin in the streets when the hypocrites pledged to take care of him as if he were theirs; thru his teen years when the beasts in the palaces and the media gleefully used him as their whipping boy; to his finding the love of his life whereupon the public vilification intensified to unprecedented levels, such that he has been called a traitor – dog whistle included……………despite putting his entire life on the line, literally and publicly, for a nation of ingrates who now bay for his blood.
So just how strong of an attachment to that full frontal view of Harry’s face for the past 40+ years did the public feel; and what good has that done him? And how different will that attachment be, whether they see his children’s faces or not?
I’ll say this again for the folks in back who still need to be told: until the fact that the resistance to the Sussex family is rooted in rac*sm is faced fully, even by a few brave souls in public spaces, Britain will continue to find all sorts of excuses to outsource their endemic rac*sm, much like theyve been doing for the past 462 years since they entered the transatlantic s.lave trade and began outsourcing the proof of their blood-soaked hands to the Caribbean and North America.
I absolutely agree that racism is driving all the vitriol against Harry’s family but I don’t agree that he isn’t STILL benefiting from people “knowing” him all his life, because he is treated like the beloved victim of a scam artist by most of the racists. Did someone vile call him a race traitor? Yes. But do thousands of equally vile people think he is still their beloved prince who was ensnared by a snake? Yes.
I don’t know a normal person would ensure that police protection was guaranteed before uprooting their family to move to the UK. Why did Meghan agree to move to the UK without that guarantee? It’s very confusing.
I still have my doubts that she’s all in on this. And folks get mad when I say it. I may not be as big a Sussex fan as some people on here, but I refuse to believe that she was ever eager to expose her beloved children to either the physical or emotional danger of living as her offspring in the UK. As for Harry? I think he still has many issues that he hasn’t really dealt with.
She’s in the UK with the children right now so the question on whether she was eager is moot. She decided to uproot her life knowing they weren’t going to get security. Perhaps she was convinced by Harry that the Royal Family would give them security if they lived there. Unfortunately Harry still believes that the Royal Family sees him as family worthy of protection.
Yes. Obviously something moved her. But a lack of enthusiasm for the move could cause problems down the road, especially if the security issue never gets resolved to her satisfaction.
I am not convinced she was “all in” either. It’s odd to me and I am not sure what’s going on. I just hope the kids are OK.
I don’t know……….a normal person would ensure that they have far more facts than are available at this time before they proceed to spouting off on decisions made by an autonomous couple. And as to what those decisions are, we know fu*kall.
It boggles the mind so I gotta ask: why do some folks believe that gossip is all about flapping one’s gums about fact-free nonsense? Do folks not know that one can gossip about facts and truth where the gossip then consists of intelligent folks exchanging informed opinions.
Not confusing at all.
Security is mostly why I wish they would make a statement about the move. How do you go from court cases and statements about the family’s safety to security not being an issue doesn’t make sense.
I have been saying this since they moved back. The whole security thing has been Harry’s main talking point for years and now it’s crickets since they moved back. They look like hypocrites, sadly. Instead of issuing statements that don’t need one; issue one on THIS.
It certainly looks like the kids might be in danger because nobody knows what’s going on with the Sussex security. Certainly everybody talking and speculating about it doesn’t help. Let’s assume that Harry and Meghan love their children above all else. Would they play ducks and drakes with their safety, like Charles has done with his child? For my own peace of mind, I’m keeping that in my thoughts. I know those of us who care about justice in general as well as what happens to the Sussexes are understandably worried.
This is where I facepalm and ask why anyone thought this was a good idea to move back.
This seems like putting the Archie and Lili’s lives on the line for no good reason.
How do we know for sure they don’t have security? Was it confirmed? I’m out of the loop.
We know absolutely nothing and that’s a good thing for their security, no? Maybe they are staying silent on the issue because they must. Perhaps their private security has been given permission to carry firearms. Perhaps they do have some form of “royal” protection. We don’t know where they are living or where the kids are going to school, that’s good! I cannot imagine they’d do this huge move without guarantees about security and protection. Perhaps not making a statement about any of it *IS* a statement and/or part of the deal they’ve made regarding security. The less the world knows about their security arrangements and the details of their lives generally, the better, imho.
We know they don’t have security they are not paying for and RAVEC has not reassessed anything. Charles isn’t paying for anything and it’s going to be up to them to fund it.
After the 😱 of losing Sentebele to the BS machinations of William….Harry & Meghan are doing what they have to do to ensure Inviticus is protected…so they’re doing that …boots on the ground…everything else is que sera sera which is what every person on planet 🌎 lives with
I really wish that Harry and Meghan had sat down and given this some serious thought instead of taking unnecessary chances with their children lives . let me say , Harry and Meghan both choose to move their children back to the uk knowing full well that they didn’t have police protection so I can’t In all honesty feel completely sorry for them . I do feel sorry for Archie and lily because they are children who has zero say in the matter. Imagine uprooting your children from a peaceful safe life in California to this shit show . . This was not the choice i would ever make as a mother but I am not them . They should get use to the idea that they might never get police protection and if they are comfortable with that, then that’s on them . I don’t know why they decided to move back but no British school education, or time with dog shit father or any other family members or friends is worth this nightmare. Remember when Meghan said in the Harry and Meghan Netflix series that she stays up at night wondering if the doors are locked and if her babies are safe? Plus Harry saying live on television that he couldn’t see a world in which he could ever bring his family back to the uk without security. Well Harry dear, that world is still very much the same . Yet you moved them back there How are they managing to get any sleep now and how are they not on edge every minute of every day especially when those children go to and from school
“It is absolutely the biggest area of concern,” one friend said. “It creates the most dangers.”
Yes, well, thanks, Capt. Obvious.
This is why the kids should be at home in Montecito.
A BIT OFF-TOPIC BUT RELATED:
I just put this question thru chatgpt:
QUES:
“Whats preventing the uk parliament from passing a law making it legal for the security detail of high risk personnel to carry guns?”
ANS:
“In principle, nothing prevents the UK Parliament from passing such a law. Parliament is sovereign and could enact legislation allowing the security personnel of specifically defined high-risk individuals to carry firearms.
The obstacle is therefore not a lack of legal power. It is primarily government policy, public safety concerns, and the UK’s long-standing approach to gun control.
The UK Government’s firearms guidance explicitly says that firearms are generally not considered an acceptable means of personal protection in Great Britain.”
Theres more of this in the answer but that last sentence is the gist of it.
Has there ever been a more marble-mouthed, constipated, asinine operating principle as a response to an issue like this in today’s world?
I know this move to the UK is confusing for all of us, but we are all on the outside looking in. Can we all stop face palming or criticizing them and trust that they are making the right decisions for themselves and their family? This doesn’t seem like a rash decision, it seems pretty well thought through by H & M, and really well executed. So let’s just wait to see what happens and wish them the best.
Thank You!!! All of this hand wringing about the decision made by two grown adults is annoying at this point.
I am with Kaiser. I get him wanting to come back and daring them to not protect them, but I wouldn’t have done it. Full stop. And I hope I am wrong that RAVEC will change the threat against the whole family and they get armed security. But I still have to wonder at Harry not caring that the press/public will go at him about the public paying for this. He already knows they won’t allow them to be reimbursed. And the negative commentary is going to be directed at his wife and them lying that she couldn’t be successful so they went back to the UK. Whole thing is headache inducing.
I am not convinced she was “all in” either. It’s odd to me and I am not sure what’s going on. I just hope the kids are OK.