‘I could have put a bomb in George’s school’
Security fears as neighbour films herself wandering corridors just days before prince is due to start
THE school at which Prince George will start this week is vulnerable to terrorists, local residents have claimed, after one filmed herself wandering the corridors unchallenged.
Sarah Burnett-moore, 54, strolled into Thomas’s Battersea after the wrought iron gate and a main door were left open.
She said that, bearing in mind the third-in-line to the throne would be starting there on Thursday, the lack of security was “astonishing”.
The disclosure will come as an embarrassment to Kensington Palace but insiders insisted that when the new term begins, a carefully planned yet discreet security operation would come into action. Mrs Burnett-moore told The Daily Telegraph: “I could have walked in with an IED and set it to go off on Thursday. I live just 200 metres from the school, and myself and lots of neighbours are worried about the se- curity implications as the Prince’s presence will make the area a target for attacks.”
Thomas’s has undergone a major renovation project in recent weeks and dozens of contractors have been working there throughout the summer, ex- tending the dining room and renovating the communal areas.
Mrs Burnett-moore, a doctor, acknowledged that the school was closed for the summer holidays until later this week and that the place had been teeming with builders, but said that the fact she was able to walk through reception and into a classroom area unnoticed was “rather worrying”.
However, from the moment the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge drop off their son on Thursday, a slick, wellrehearsed security operation will come into force, designed to ensure the safety of the Prince and other pupils. There will be hourly checks on the security of the building, and royal protection officers will work around the clock in a “significant” operation. A priority will be the comfort of the four-year-old Prince and his fellow pupils, so there will be minimal impact on the children.
The Prince’s start at the London school, where annual fees reach almost £18,000, marks the beginning of a new life for the Cambridges as they settle in the capital to support the Queen in her duties full-time.
The Duchess has said she will get involved in the school run, telling fellow parents she may see them at the school gates. But the 3.5-mile journey from Kensington Palace to the school will likely take well over 40 minutes each way in rush-hour traffic that is notorious through Chelsea, Kensington and over Battersea Bridge at school dropoff and pick-up times.
It is understood that, while there will be no blue-light escort holding up other traffic, there will be a measure of unobtrusive additional security for the Prince’s daily journey.
Neither Kensington Palace nor Thomas’s would comment on security matters.