EXCLUSIVE: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke out after Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s school was targeted by photographers, but one royal expert believes they could try another tactic
Prince Harry and Meghan should perhaps follow the example of the Prince and Princess of Wales to stop any more school incidents in their tracks, according to an expert.
The Sussexes hit back at paparazzi, when two photographers were spotted lurking outside Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s school. They branded two international paparazzi as extraordinarily reckless and accused them of an unacceptable intrusion into their children’s privacy.
The two young men carrying backpacks were understood to have been seen by both private security and school staff walking the perimeter of the Sussex children’s school, stopping at various points and looking into the grounds. A spokesman for Harry and Meghan, who moved back to the UK last month, called the actions “an extraordinary lack of judgment”.
Now, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond believes the Sussex’s response to the incident was warranted, given the intrusion of their children’s privacy as they settle into their new lives in the UK.
Jennie told the Mirror: “It must have been incredibly upsetting to find out that paparazzi working for a European agency were prowling around the perimeter of the school where Archie and Lilibet are now pupils.
“Quite understandably it would have alarmed not only Harry and Meghan, but other parents at the school. We send our children to school to be educated in a safe place. We do not expect them to be spied on by foreign photographers.
“And these two little people have already been uprooted from their lives in California, sent to a school that proved unsuitable because of heavy traffic and are now settling in at yet another school. Or at least they were.”
The royal expert added that given Harry’s ongoing fight for extra security for his family, and the Duke and Duchess’ desire for their children’s privacy, the invasion from the paparazzi could have the family wondering if moving back to Britain was the right decision.
“Given Harry’s visceral hatred of press intrusion and fears for his family, you wonder whether this could prove enough to make him re-think the decision to come back to his homeland,” Jennie said.
“But the Sussexes must know by now that the British media which Harry so despises adhere to strict rules about not invading the privacy of children. No British newspaper or magazine would buy paparazzi photos of Archie and Lilibet. But overseas publications and photographers don’t work with the same restraints.
“Hopefully this was just a one off – especially given that Harry, Meghan and their children spent some of the summer in Portugal where they could easily have been targeted by paparazzi.”
While Harry and Meghan have spoken at length about their desire to keep their children’s identities hidden, Jennie believes that this may be part of the problem of paparazzi trying desperately to snap photos of Archie and Lilibet’s faces.
Meghan has posted photos of her children online in the past, but has always obscured their faces with clever angles or emojis. And according to Jennie, this secrecy could be a driving force behind invasive photographers.
“But I think part of the problem is that Meghan and Harry have inadvertently put a price on the value of the first clear photo of their children,” Jennie explained.
“Meghan has teased us all with multiple pictures of Archie and Lilibet in which their faces are deliberately obscured. And that has spawned more curiosity about them — and upped the reward for any pap who can get a face-on shot.”
According to the royal expert, Harry and Meghan could take a leaf out of the Prince and Princess of Wales ’ book, and show the world their children’s faces in controlled ways, to eliminate the mystery and therefore the risk.
Jennie said: “Better by far is the strategy adopted by William and Catherine who have regularly released charming portraits of their children on special occasions. We have been able to watch them grow from afar; press and public interest in them has been satisfied. And the value of any snatched photos has been negated. Perhaps the Sussexes should now follow that example.”
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