What if it had been a terrorist?

By Ken Wharfe

THIS was a completely unacceptable breach of security. That an intruder can walk in to Prince George’s school from the street before being challenged raises serious and urgent questions.

It doesn’t matter how long the person was on the premises. What counts is how far they penetrated – and no one should be allowed to get access to any part of the school building. It’s as simple as that.

The fear of someone roaming inside Thomas’s does not bear thinking about. Thankfully on this occasion the intruder was intercepted before she could go any further. But suppose it had been a terrorist intent on killing? By then it would have been too late. That this person was able to reach reception was far too close for comfort.

For royalty protection, however, this is a wake-up call. George has been at the school only five days and already elaborate plans to protect him have been compromised.

Before I became personal protection officer to Princess Diana, my task was to head the security around William and Harry. It therefore fell to me to ensure William’s safety at school when he began at Wetherby Prep in Notting Hill in 1987 at the same age George is today.

I understand that the template we developed there three decades ago is very much the one that has been adopted by those whose job is to guard Prince George.

Which raises the question: how could things have gone so wrong? It is only fair to point out that Thomas’s, with nearly 600 pupils, is different from Wetherby, which was then a small school with far fewer children.

William appreciated the low-profile policing that accompanied him throughout his school days and wanted it to be replicated for George. This means no burly bodyguard in the classroom or an officer with him every time he wants to make a call of nature.

Had there been a suggestion from officers, for example, to post police outside the school gates, I know William would have vetoed it. He not only wants his son to have as normal a school experience as is possible, but also his school mates – which means keeping the protection low key.

But that is no excuse for the kind of breaches that happened not once this week, but twice.

Unfortunately the world is a far more dangerous place than it was 30 years ago. We live in an era of unpredictable international terrorism that can strike at any time. The publicity for an attack on a member of the royal family would be incalculable.

It means those guarding the prince, even at school, cannot afford to ever let things slip. They must be prepared for terrorists and those sad individuals with dangerous fixations about the royals.

At Wetherby we had a strict and successful routine. Long before either William or Harry, when he later joined him, arrived each morning, a specialist with a sniffer dog searched the school. This happened every day. Only when they were satisfied the school was safe was I signalled and we left Kensington Palace for the short drive to Wetherby. Inside the school I set up an operational room where my colleagues and I were based.

I understand this has similarly been done at Thomas’s, where CCTV pictures of George’s classroom are relayed to his officers, whose room is close enough for them to respond to an incident in seconds. There are also elaborate alarms in place.

Because the terrorist threat is so much higher now, I believe George has a team of four close protection officers guarding him on a daily basis. It is likely there may also be back-up provided by police in the local Battersea area. If so, questions must be asked about securing the perimeter of the school.

No one wants to see the royals cocooned in the kind of security bubble that surrounds figures such as the US President, but also nobody wants to see any member of the royal family at risk from the deranged or from terrorists.

Something clearly went wrong yesterday. Mercifully there were no consequences. But changes in protecting George will have to be made.