Harry and Meghan pull children from school after two days over security concerns on the commute

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have pulled their two children from a newly enrolled school just days into the British academic year — after their private security team concluded that the daily commute posed risks they could not adequately manage.

Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, attended the undisclosed school for approximately two days before the decision was made to move them, according to reporting by Deseret News. The family had relocated from Montecito, California, to the United Kingdom in late August after six years in the United States, with plans to spend an extended period in Britain.

The decision for the children to move school was taken following a discussion with the family's security team about the practicalities of their current arrangements.— Spokesman for Harry and Meghan

The parents remain extremely grateful to all the teachers and staff for the love, care and effort they have shown their family. This decision should in no way be interpreted as a reflection on the school or the exceptional care the children have received there.— Spokesman for Harry and Meghan

The practical problem, according to NBC News royal contributor Emily Nash, was distance and traffic. The original school was at a considerable distance from where the family is staying in the UK, and the journey through heavy traffic made it difficult for the security team to keep the convoy together and protect the family from potential threats.

On the first day of term, they realized it was going to be quite a challenging journey for them and they risked sitting in traffic where they were potentially exposed to greater threats.— Emily Nash, NBC News royal contributor and royal editor, HELLO! Magazine

The school switch lands at a particularly fraught moment for the family's security arrangements. On the same day the story broke, British media reported that Meghan would receive her first government-backed security review since the couple stepped down from royal duties in 2020. Both Harry and Meghan are set to undergo an official risk assessment conducted by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, a branch of the UK's Home Office. The couple has been asked to provide authorities with detailed information about their daily routines — including school runs, regularly visited addresses, and travel routes — so officials can evaluate whether the threat level they face has changed, according to The Telegraph as cited by CNN and Deseret News.

The security question has been a defining and unresolved tension since Harry and Meghan left frontline royal duties. The UK government decided in February 2020 that Harry would no longer receive the same degree of publicly funded protection when in the country. Harry challenged that decision in court and lost in a February 2024 ruling. In May 2023, he lost a separate legal challenge seeking the right to pay for specialist police protection himself — a bid the Home Office opposed on the grounds that it was not appropriate for wealthy individuals to purchase such services. Harry has continued pressing for police protection, arguing that his family remains at risk. Earlier this year, Meghan and the children did not accompany Harry on a trip to London for a court case against a tabloid publisher, with security concerns cited as the reason.

The family's return to Britain has also coincided with a fresh signal from Buckingham Palace about their standing within the royal family. Last week, a letter issued by the Lord Chamberlain — the palace's most senior officer — on behalf of King Charles III confirmed that Harry and Meghan remain nonworking members of the royal family and private citizens, and that there has been no change to their inability to use the titles of His and Her Royal Highness. The couple indicated they were 'surprised' by the letter, according to NBC News.

It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the Sovereign, and are no longer working members of the Royal Family. The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity. In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.— Lord Chamberlain's letter on behalf of King Charles III

The location of the family's new home in the UK has not been disclosed. The names of either school — the original or the replacement — have not been made public. The story was first reported by HELLO! Magazine.

Why it matters — The episode puts a human face on the still-unresolved question of who bears responsibility for protecting Harry and Meghan's family in the UK — a legal and political dispute with no settled answer more than five years after they left royal duties.

Reported by nbcnews.com, deseret.com, nytimes.com, cnn.com