Meghan reportedly uneasy over school run as Sussex security row remains unresolved

The return of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the UK has brought an immediate practical concern into focus: how the Duchess of Sussex will get Archie and Lilibet to school while questions remain over the family’s security arrangements.

Meghan is reportedly nervous about making the regular school journey because, although the family has security with them, they do not currently have full police protection.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to Britain last week and are staying at a secluded luxury property in the countryside. The couple have largely kept out of sight since their arrival, but that is expected to change as their children begin school.

School run becomes a security concern

Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, are due to attend a UK prep school, meaning regular morning drop-offs and afternoon collections will become part of the family’s routine.

A friend of Meghan’s said the school run is particularly difficult because a fixed schedule can make movements easier to anticipate.

“They go out as they need to go out but it’s a gilded cage without protective security,” the friend said.

The source added: “The school run is a tricky issue and I understand they are nervous about it.”

The family is understood to have some level of private security, but their current guards are not authorised to carry weapons in Britain.

That is a significant difference from the arrangements the couple have had in the US, where their private security personnel can be armed.

A predictable journey to and from school therefore presents a different challenge from occasional trips where timings and movements can be changed.

The security issue has followed Harry and Meghan since they stepped back from royal duties and moved to California in 2020. Their decision to return to Britain with their children has brought the dispute back into sharp focus.

Harry’s security battle remains unresolved

Harry has spent years challenging the decision to remove his automatic taxpayer-funded police protection in the UK.

The couple are understood to have been discussing their return for months, with the timing eventually coming together in a way that made last week the preferred moment for the move.

Yet the question of protection was still unsettled when they arrived.

Harry reportedly gave the security committee less than two weeks’ notice of his return, despite rules requiring 28 days’ notice.

Critics have consequently questioned why the Sussexes chose to return with their children before a new security arrangement had been finalised.

A poll cited in the original report found that 63 per cent of the public believe Harry and Meghan should pay for their own private security.

There have also been questions over Harry’s decision to bring his family back after previously saying he did not feel able to do so without proper protection.

The couple are nevertheless understood to expect that some form of taxpayer-funded protection could eventually be reinstated.

New risk assessment sent to Ravec

There has been movement behind the scenes.

For the first time in seven years, a Risk Management Board has assessed the threat level facing Harry. That assessment has now been passed to Ravec, the independent body responsible for decisions concerning security arrangements for members of the Royal Family and other VIPs.

Ravec will consider the assessment before deciding what level of protection, if any, should be provided.

Exactly when that decision will be made remains unclear. So does the form any future protection might take.

The government has declined to provide details about the family’s security arrangements.

A Government spokesman said: “It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”

‘Prisoner in his own home’

Royal commentator Phil Dampier said Harry’s situation could leave him effectively confined to his property, but argued that the circumstances were largely the result of decisions made by the Duke himself.

“He has brought it on himself,” Dampier said.

“It was his decision to stop being a working member of the Royal Family.

“It was his decision to come back at very short notice, when no one was expecting him.”

Dampier said Harry could still employ private security, but there was an important limitation.

“He could become a prisoner of his own home. Clearly he can have private security but his bodyguards would not be allowed to be armed in the UK as they are in the US. It’s all of his own making.”

The comments reflect the wider dilemma facing the Sussexes as they try to establish a family life in Britain while remaining outside the working Royal Family.

Their return is intended to give Archie and Lilibet the opportunity to attend school in the UK and spend more time around Harry’s relatives, including members of the Spencer family.

The couple have also chosen to return despite continuing tensions surrounding Harry’s relationship with the Royal Family and the long-running dispute over his security.

Diana’s family remains part of the picture

Harry also wants his children to be closer to members of his extended family.

It was not confirmed whether he, Meghan and the children visited the grave of Harry’s mother, Diana, at Althorp on the 29th anniversary of her death.

The connection to Diana’s family is one of the factors understood to be important to Harry as he considers life in Britain.

The family’s decision to return comes after six years in California. Harry and Meghan gave up their roles as working royals in 2020 before establishing their life in the US.

They are now attempting to build a different kind of life in Britain, with their children at the centre of the move, while continuing to operate as private individuals rather than returning to royal duties.

That distinction is particularly important when it comes to security.

Harry raises fresh concerns over an al-Qaeda threat

The security dispute has taken on added significance after Harry accused Britain’s security committee of failing to tell him about a threat from al-Qaeda in 2023.

Earlier this month, he wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood asking her to take a personal role in deciding whether he and his family should receive close police protection.

Harry’s legal team is understood to have alleged in the letter that the chair of Ravec knew about a threat made by the terror group but failed to pass the information to Harry’s security staff or US authorities.

In November 2023, intelligence passed to the FBI identified an al-Qaeda document that specifically referred to the “assassination” of Prince Harry.

The same document called on followers in the West to kill military personnel who had served in Afghanistan.

The report said this was one of at least six documented threats against Harry dating back to 2007.

A history of threats

Harry’s military service and deployments have previously made him a target for extremist groups.

In 2007, there was a reported plan to kill or kidnap him during his planned deployment to Iraq.

The following year, websites supporting al-Qaeda called for Harry to be captured or killed after details of his deployment to Afghanistan became public.

In 2010, al-Qaeda supporters threatened to shoot down Harry’s Apache helicopter and capture him if he returned to Afghanistan.

In September 2012, a Taliban spokesman said commanders had been instructed to “eliminate him”. Taliban fighters subsequently attacked Harry’s base at Camp Bastion.

Another wave of hostility followed the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare in January 2023.

Senior Taliban figures accused him of war crimes, renewing criticism of the Duke. However, the remarks were not classified as a direct death threat.

The history of those threats is now part of the wider argument over whether Harry and his family require additional protection while living in Britain.

For Meghan, the immediate issue is much more ordinary but potentially difficult: getting two young children safely to and from school on a predictable schedule.

As the Sussexes settle into their new UK life, the unresolved security question is therefore no longer an issue confined to courtrooms, government committees and legal letters. It could affect one of the most routine parts of family life.