Harry’s spokesperson says paparazzi monitored his children at school in England

London, United Kingdom. Prince Harry’s children have been stalked at school in the English countryside by “certain European paparazzi,” his spokesperson said on Wednesday. The spokesperson called the photographers’ conduct an “extraordinarily reckless” intrusion into the family’s privacy.

Photographers at the school

Harry, 42, the younger son of King Charles, moved to Britain from California last month with his American wife, Meghan Markle, and their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.

The family has sought to keep its new home and the children’s school private. The children had already changed schools after heavy traffic on the route to the original location raised concerns for the family’s security team.

A spokesperson for Harry and Meghan said photographers walked the perimeter of the new school, then stopped to look into its grounds and monitor the children. “The decision by photographers to conduct themselves in this way around a school is extraordinarily reckless,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the British press had been broadly respectful of the family’s privacy since their return, but that “certain European paparazzi appear unwilling to respect the privacy of children at school”.

Long-running privacy concerns

Harry has long blamed the press for the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed when the car she was in crashed as its driver sped away from chasing paparazzi. He has compared press treatment of Meghan with that experienced by his mother and is fiercely protective of his family’s privacy.

Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and became private citizens. They have their own security team but want the British government to provide their family with automatic police protection, as it does for other senior members of the royal family.

Harry’s brother, Prince William, the heir to the throne, has had similar experiences with European paparazzi. He has previously won privacy cases against French magazines that published photographs of his family while they were not on official duties.

The brothers, once close, have been estranged since Harry stepped down from royal duties, published a book detailing the breakdown of their relationship and gave several interviews criticising the royal family.