Harry & Meghan Reportedly ‘Stunned’ by 2 Men in a ‘White Van’ Targeting Their Kids at School—’Irresponsible and Ill-Considered’
StyleCaster Editors
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s return to the UK has been anything but smooth, and part of the issue remains the same thing they previously struggled with: the media.
British police are now investigating two men carrying backpacks who were spotted walking around the perimeter of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s new school, which has sparked renewed security concerns. However, royal insider Rob Shuter claimed that this frightening episode subtly revealed the high level of protection Harry and Meghan’s kids have in the UK.
“Meghan is stunned,” one royal source told Naughty But Nice. “She and Harry thought they understood the British press better than anyone. They didn’t realize how specifically children are protected here.”
Harry grew up being photographed alongside his brother, Prince William, but things changed after Princess Diana’s tragic death in 1997. Under IPSO’s Editors’ Code, children should be allowed to complete their schooling without unnecessary intrusion, and journalists cannot approach or photograph them at school without permission from school authorities.
“They thought California meant protection and Britain meant intrusion,” the source explained. “What they’re discovering is that, when it comes specifically to press protections surrounding children and schools, Britain has rules that could give Archie and Lilibet protections Harry simply didn’t have growing up.”
Whether the men were actually paparazzi or posed a bigger security threat is for the police to determine, but Archie and Lilibet remain more protected from unwanted pictures than Harry and Meghan are said to have understood.
The BBC recently reported that private security and school staff saw two men lingering outside the school on Monday, September 28. They were caught “looking into the school grounds” before heading back to a “white rental van.” One of the men has reportedly been identified as a photographer working for a European press agency.
A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement via People, “The decision by photographers to conduct themselves in this way around a school is extraordinarily reckless. There is a world of difference between legitimate media activity and photographers walking the perimeter of a school, stopping to look into the grounds and monitoring children as they go about their day.”
“It is concerning enough that certain European paparazzi appear unwilling to respect the privacy of children at school,” the statement read. “But to behave in this manner in these particular circumstances, and so soon after the incident at RAF Fairford, demonstrates an extraordinary lack of judgment.”
It continued, “Whatever photographs they may have been seeking, this was not only an unacceptable intrusion into the privacy of children; it was an irresponsible and ill-considered way to conduct themselves in the vicinity of a school.”
Some royal observers took to social media to share that they were not convinced of the danger. “I’m sorry, but can we at least wait for the police to establish what actually happened before turning this into another security campaign?” one critic asked on X.
“Just another fake woe-is-me, ‘they’re after us’ ploy by these 2 scammers,” a second person added, while another X user said, “I’d love to see evidence. You’d think they’d have pics.”
