Jennie Bond Tells Harry and Meghan to Copy Kate's Paparazzi Playbook

Photographers hanging around your toddlers' school gates is every parent's worst nightmare. For Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, that nightmare just turned into reality out in California.

After camera crews targeted Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet's school, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their fury known. Nobody blames them. But now, veteran royal watcher Jennie Bond has jumped in with some practical advice on how to stop the lensmen in their tracks.

Her suggestion? Steal a trick straight from Prince William and Kate Middleton.

What happened at Archie and Lilibet's school

Living in Montecito was supposed to buy Harry and Meghan peace and quiet. Big gates, wide roads, and plenty of space to let the little ones run around without long lenses poking through the hedge.

That bubble burst when photographers set up camp near the school attended by Archie and Lilibet. The Sussex camp spoke out immediately. They made it clear that turning up at a children's school crosses a hard red line.

For Harry, it cuts right to the bone. He has spent his entire adult life fighting to keep cameras away from his family. Seeing photographers pop up at morning drop-off is pretty much his worst fear coming true.

Jennie Bond's advice to the Sussexes

Speaking to Mirror Celebrity, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond suggested the couple might need a fresh approach to deal with the problem.

Bond knows this beat inside out. She reported on the royal family for the BBC from 1989 through to 2003. She was on the ground in Paris reporting live following the tragic death of Princess Diana in 1997. She even braved the jungle bugs on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! back in 2004, coming away as runner-up. In short, she has watched the royal media circus play out for decades.

Bond thinks Harry and Meghan should consider a tactic that worked wonders back in the UK: give the public a little taste on your own terms, and the market for scruffy paparazzi shots collapses.

If you starve the market completely, those unauthorised pictures become worth a fortune. But if you hand out a crisp, lovely family portrait twice a year, nobody wants to pay big money for a blurry shot taken through a fence.

How William and Kate solved the problem

Look at how William and Kate handle Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Years ago, British tabloids agreed to a simple bargain with Kensington Palace.

Kate grabs her own camera and snaps cute, relaxed portraits for every birthday and the big first day of school. The Palace puts them out for free to every newspaper and website on the planet.

The trade-off is ironclad. In exchange for those regular, crystal-clear pictures, mainstream editors agree not to buy or print photos of the children just walking to school or playing in the park.

It works. The royal kids get to grow up with a fairly normal school run. The public still gets to see the little ones grow up. And the photographers pack up their long lenses because there is simply no money in taking photos nobody will print.

Why California makes things tricky

Pulling off that exact deal in the United States is easier said than done. Let's be real about the differences here.

The UK has strict privacy laws and an established system of media agreements. In America, the First Amendment gives photographers huge freedom. Independent photo agencies sell to outlets across the globe, from European gossip glossies to overseas digital sites that do not care about gentleman's agreements.

Even so, Bond reckons the basic economics still hold true. If Harry and Meghan release regular, candid photos of Archie and Lilibet on their own channels, the commercial value of a snatched school-gate picture plummets.

Photographers only climb trees and sit in hot vans for hours if there is a massive payday at the end of it. Take away the fat cheque, and most of them will pack up and go chase a movie star in Beverly Hills instead.

Will Harry and Meghan change their stance?

That leaves Harry and Meghan with a tough choice. Right now, they guard their children's faces fiercely. When Archie and Lilibet do appear in video projects or holiday greetings, it is usually from behind or in soft, artsy lighting.

You can understand why. Harry is deeply scarred by what his mother went through, and he wants his kids to have the childhood he never had.

Still, complete secrecy often breeds more curiosity. As Bond points out, William and Kate found a middle path that gave their children real peace during term time. Whether Harry and Meghan are willing to try that same path in sunny California is another question entirely.