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protection officers were Sergeant Reg Spinney, a former marine, and Graham Cracker, known as ‘Crackers’ to the boys and all the staff at Kensington Palace. They lived in private accommodation on the perimeter of the school grounds next to the tennis courts and the art school. Both had been told to keep their distance from William and allow him space and time with his peers. If anything, having the avuncular detectives around made William immediately popular with his dorm-mates, who found the high-tech tracking devices they used to keep an eye on their royal charge fascinating.
    Aware that the Waleses increasingly fraught domestic situation was making the front pages of the daily newspapers, the Barbers sensibly banned them from the school library, and television was restricted and supervised. By now nearly every row appeared to be catalogued in the daily press and on the princess’s thirtieth birthday the
Daily Mail
’s gossip columnist Nigel Dempster broke a story about the couple rowing over a birthday party.C HARLES AND D IANA: C AUSE FOR C ONCERN ran the headline. Charles had apparently wanted to throw a party for his wife, but Diana, knowing it was a facade, was having none of it and insisted that she would not be celebrating.
    By now both sides were leaking stories to the press and this particular piece of propaganda appeared to have emanated from Charles’s court. The staff at Highgrove and Kensington Palace were also split, with Diana’s household, which included her private chef Darren McGrady and butler Paul Burrell, based at Kensington, and Charles’s team of aides in Gloucestershire. As a member of staff you were either with the prince or the princess, and there was a great deal of mistrust between the two camps. Diana claimed she was always careful of what she said at Highgrove as information in unsympathetic hands could be used against her. According to the prince and princess’s spokes -man Dickie Arbiter, who was vainly trying to stem the torrent of stories pouring out of the royal household at the time, Ludgrove helped to shelter the boys from their troubled home life.
    The boys had access to the newspapers at Kensington Palace because Diana used to read them. It was very easy for them to see the front pages. Given what was going on in William’s life at the time, Ludgrove was extremely good at protecting him and later Harry. It took them out of troubled waters. The media couldn’t get onto the grounds. It was very sheltered apart from a public footpath between the school and the playing fields which could be accessed by photographers.
    ‘The Barbers were more than equipped to deal with the princes. William and Harry weren’t the only members of a royal family to attend the school and they certainly weren’t the only children to come from dysfunctional homes,’ recalled a former pupil. ‘The Barbers made it their sole mission to shield William and Harry from what was going on at home.’ At weekends William would return home but the constant rowing was a reminder of just how unhappy his parents were. Diana tried her hardest to make William feel settled and comfortable and had the larder stocked with his favourite treats. She encouraged him to bring his new schoolfriends home, and their next-door neighbours Lord Freddie and Lady Ella Windsor, the children of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, would often come over to ride their BMX bikes through the palace gardens.
    Both Diana and Charles were delighted with how well William settled in at Ludgrove. He was in the top stream for most of his subjects and one of the best swimmers at the school. He also captained the rugby and hockey teams. Despite their feuding, Diana and Charles made an effort to visit William. ‘Diana would often drive to Ludgrove to watch football and rugby matches,’ said a former pupil. ‘She would sit on the bench and watch William play. I remember one time I was sitting out because I was injured and Diana was very