It looks like this is the story of the week: the Sussexes removed Archie and Lili from their British school after two days, and the kids have already been enrolled in a different school. The reason for the removal? Security issues, specifically around the school run. Apparently, Prince Harry and Meghan’s private security raised the alarm that the school run was a huge risk because of the traffic, the bottleneck near the school and the fact that the Sussexes and their private security are in multiple vehicles. Well, the royal reporters and commentators are having a field day, mocking Harry and Meghan for having security concerns and asking why they didn’t know that the school run is a misery for all local parents. Not only that, but local parents have turned into conspiracists about why H&M are making a big deal over all of this.
Parents at both schools attended by Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, suspect Meghan and Harry deliberately exploited Oxford’s well-known traffic problems to bolster their case for protective armed security.
One source said: “If you go to [School 1] literally all people talk about is the traffic in Oxford. Parents spend their time dreaming up strategies to beat it. One favorite is to get up at 5:45, drive in, and go and sit in Gail’s (a coffee shop chain) for an hour and have breakfast and do homework there.”
Another parent said: “This was obviously going to happen if they’re driving to [School 1] every day. They didn’t know there was traffic in Oxford?! This is all just a ploy to get security.”
A parent at the new school said: “[School 2] is not nearly as academic as [School 1]. It’s not a dedicated Eton pipeline like [School 1]. Really, the only reason to go to [School 1] is if you want to go to Eton or Wycombe Abbey. The whole thing about [School 2] is that, sure, it’s a great school and everything, but the real selling point is that it is not in an insanely busy town, so it is easy to get to.”
Harry has previously said he doesn’t want Archie to go to Eton.
Another parent said the children were settling in and everything was “very normal.” They added that the new school, unlike the first, has sent out no advisories ordering parents to respect the renegade royals’ privacy, which was “very welcome – they just have to get on with it and we are not being asked to change anything or do anything or being lectured to.”
Archie and Lili moved schools after just two days, HELLO! magazine reported on Monday night, following security concerns over getting them to and from the original school. The children spent two days as new starters, meeting their classmates, before their parents “reluctantly” withdrew them on the advice of their security team. Sources close to the couple were at pains to stress the issue was traffic-related security issues.
Oxford’s traffic is so famously terrible that last October it became the first British city outside London to impose a congestion charge (£5 a day, at six charging points). The Sussex security operation only carried out checks on the school over the summer holidays, saying they “were not able to properly recce the school run until the first day of term.”
The children have now both been seen at the new school, my sources say.
As I’ve said this whole time, Harry & Meghan’s “surprise” is the most surprising part of this UK move. Supporters have argued that Harry and Meghan have their reasons and the Sussexes have been preparing for this move for months, but it really doesn’t feel like that’s the case. Harry and Meghan keep being caught flat-footed, they keep getting surprised by what their situation is like on the ground. Their security had no idea about the traffic clogs because (IMO) the decision to move was only made this summer. They’re also blowing up the “British education is so important to Harry” narrative – clearly, one school is as good as the next, especially when it comes to convenience for H&M.
Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram, Avalon Red.
