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Royal Editor Chris Ship explains that the Sussexes’ decision to switch schools was prompted by security fears after they were stuck in traffic jams on the school run last week
The year group WhatsApps had lit up and the phone in the headteacher’s office wouldn’t stop ringing.
Around the school, the streets were unusually chaotic, and the roads parents were used to driving down were blocked off.
Bad traffic on this particular school run had suddenly become intolerable.
Parents were talking to other parents about what they called the Sussexes’ ‘convoy’, school governors were getting messages, and the headteacher was suddenly very busy dealing with complaints.
Welcome to days one and two at the British prep school which Harry and Meghan had chosen for their two children.
Last Thursday, the drive from the Sussexes’ new home to the school for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet had started off well with their private security team in the car behind them.
The couple were unable to practice the school run Credit: Duchess of Sussex/ Instagram
But as they approached the urban area near the school at the same time as many hundreds of other parents that morning, the Sussex family car was separated from the one containing their security personnel. Other SUVs large cars with children in the back seat had squeezed in between them.
And the traffic was going nowhere.
Anyone who works in protective security will confirm that being hemmed in by traffic every day on a regular route that would create patterns of behaviour adds up to a heightened, and unnecessary, risk.
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But because the school places for Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet had only been confirmed in August – just days before the news broke that the Sussexes were moving back to the UK from their home in California – a lot of the logistics planning was guesswork.
Yes, their security team had done the necessary test drives from home to school – and they’d factored in that the roads would be busier in term time – but the decision to relocate was taken so quickly last month, no one had experienced the real-life school run.
Perhaps the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had thought they would have proper police protection by now, who could ease their car out of the traffic with blue lights.
Meghan and Harry only confirmed their move to the UK in August Credit: PA
Perhaps the vast grounds of the school were considered an advantage when, from a security perspective, it became a problem.
Perhaps the school had thought that teaching the grandchildren of King Charles would come with some reputational benefits.
In any event, by the end of the first day back, it became clear this was not a situation that could continue.
Schools that Harry and Meghan had looked at previously were back in contention and a recce was carried out on those by their security teams.
Which is why, on Monday of this week, Archie and Lilibet had a taster day at the alternative school, and they started there properly on Tuesday.
The previous school is, I am told by those in the know, actually relieved that Harry and Meghan relocated their children.
This is the Talking Royals – our weekly podcast about the Royal Family, with ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Producer Lizzie Robinson.