Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have withdrawn their children from their new school in Britain, it emerged tonight.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet out of the school after only two days.
The children, aged seven and five, had grown up in America and arrived in Britain only days earlier. ITV News reported that they have now left their prep school because of security concerns.
According to the broadcaster, Archie and Lilibet are now “starting somewhere new” after Harry and Meghan discussed the practical arrangements with their security team and decided a change of school was necessary.
The development came as reports emerged that Harry’s request for taxpayer-funded police protection is under review following his return to Britain.
The duke and duchess were reportedly told that a decision had been reached at a meeting last week to assess the threat facing them both.
Harry has spent years in dispute with the Home Office over its decision to end his automatic entitlement to security. The prince has consistently maintained that, having been born a prince, he requires police protection while visiting the UK.
Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, were enrolled in a British school before fresh security concerns emerged
However, he lost a succession of legal challenges against the Home Office, which concluded that he had given up the ability to call on taxpayer-funded protection at will when he stepped back as a working royal in 2020 and began a new life in California.
Only last year, following another defeat at the Royal Courts of Justice in a case against His Majesty’s government, Harry said in a BBC interview that he could not imagine a time when he could safely bring his family to the country of his birth.
But now that he has had a sudden change of heart, bringing Meghan, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, to live in the UK, his access to police protection is being reviewed, it was reported tonight.
The decision is said to involve reviewing the risks to Prince Harry and also to his wife.
ITV News said the Home Office committee that decides on security provision for high-profile royals and politicians – known as Ravec – has written to Harry informing him a ‘full review’ will take place.
If true, then this decision defies complaints made by Team Sussex about the meeting held last week by Ravec, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, posts a video of herself, Harry and children in the UK to her Instagram
Another image from the video which Meghan posted about her family’s return to living in the UK
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Meghan and Harry pictured in 2022. Questions are now raging over who will fund security for the couple and their children
Some in Harry’s camp had accused Buckingham Palace of trying to scupper the Ravec meeting with King Charles’s bombshell letter last week which made clear Buckingham Palace’s view that the Sussexes were ‘private citizens’ not working royals.
Harry and Meghan were taken by surprise by the letter and would prefer to be known as ‘public figures’, it was made clear by sources close to them.
They believed the timing of the letter may have been an attempt to influence the Ravec committee on whether to reinstate Harry’s taxpayer-funded security.
At the time, the Daily Mail reported that such claims were incorrect, and the letter was sent out by the palace to offer clarity ahead of a busy programme for the Sussexes, not to interfere with his battles with the Home Office committee. In fact, those close to the King believed the move could make it easier for him to see his son privately.
Tonight, Harry’s fears that the letter could have been designed to block his bid for security appeared unfounded with the news that Ravec is going to fully review his need for protection for him and his family.
ITV News’s royal correspondent Chris Ship said: ‘It was decided that Harry should get a full review of his security now that he is resident in his home country and his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have started classes at a British school.’
It was said the official review carried out by Ravec, called a Risk Management Board (RMB), would be conducted for both Harry and Meghan. It would be the first review of the potential risks and threats facing Meghan since the couple left the Monarchy in 2020.
Princess Lilibet, five, and Prince Archie, seven, playing carefree in the English countryside in an image from a video posted online by their mother
Feet being warmed on the fire in a traditional English countryside setting, in an image from a video shared by the duchess
In fact, Harry had a new ‘RMB’ completed in July, eight weeks ago, but this was conducted before those assessing his case knew about his plans to relocate his family to the UK.
Currently, said ITV News, the only protection the Sussexes have been given by British police is the phone number of a police liaison officer. The duke has been told to call the phone number should he need police help, but he believes this is essentially zero protection as it would take officers a long time to reach him, were he or his family to be in distress or under attack.
Harry argues he is the son of the British monarch, the fifth in line to the throne and a veteran of the British Army who completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan. He was criticised by some British officers for his decision to boast in his 2023 memoir Spare about how many people he had killed during his battles against the Taliban. Some suggested this had massively increased his need for protection against those who might seek revenge.
Scotland Yard does not discuss the security arrangements of royals but it is understood that protection is arranged on a case-by-case basis and is constantly under review. During some recent UK events attended by Harry, such as charity evenings, he has clearly been afforded police security.
Harry and Meghan also pay millions for private security. But in America, their bodyguards may be able to shoot people deemed a threat. In Britain, their close protection agents are not allowed to carry guns, explaining why the duke is desperate to reinstate his automatic police protection.
The Home Office and Team Sussex were contacted for comment.