Prince Harry has condemned the irresponsible actions of paparazzi after two men were spotted watching the school attended by his children in the United Kingdom.
A spokesperson for the prince released a statement on Wednesday, 30 September following reports that two young men with backpacks had been pacing around the school perimeter and looking inside the grounds.
The spokesman told Agence France-Presse that the decision of photographers to behave in such a manner around a school showed a great lack of responsibility. He stated that a distinct boundary exists between legitimate media activity and photographers surrounding an educational institution to monitor children going about their daily lives.
The representative added that it was particularly worrying to observe certain European paparazzi refusing to respect the privacy of young children while at school.
British media reported that security officers and school staff first noticed the two men as they walked around the perimeter wall, stopping at intervals to peer inside the enclosure.
The incident comes shortly after Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were forced to change their children's school just days into the new term due to security concerns.
Return to the United Kingdom
The family returned to Britain at the end of August following a six-year stay in the United States that began after their high-profile split from the royal family. British media outlets report that the couple has established a home in the Cotswolds region of England.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, is the younger son of King Charles III and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, while Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is a former American actress who starred in the legal drama series Suits. The couple married at Windsor Castle in May 2018 before stepping back as senior working members of the royal family in 2020 to move to California. The Cotswolds, located in south-western central England, is a rural region famed for its historic stone villages and rolling countryside, long popular as a residential haven for celebrities and prominent public figures.
Security Protection and Royal Status
The surprise return of the Sussexes has reopened national debate over safety measures for seven-year-old Archie and five-year-old Lilibet. Prince Harry and Meghan maintain that their family remains entitled to official, taxpayer-funded security while on British soil.
While the couple lived in the United States, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures ruled that state security for Prince Harry in the United Kingdom would no longer be automatic and would instead be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
The official committee, commonly known by the acronym Ravec, operates within the UK Home Office and includes representatives from the police and the Royal Household to assess intelligence threats and determine protective arrangements for public figures.
Ravec met at the beginning of September to review threat assessments concerning Prince Harry and his family in detail. According to British media reports, the prince and his family are currently utilizing private security guards while staying in the UK.
