A ‘royal superfan’ who tried to get into Prince George’s school sparking a major security alert has been given a caution by police. Louise Chantry attempted to get into Thomas’s school Battersea last month, prompting a review of the young prince’s protection.
The 40-year-old former holistic healer has now been given a caution, meaning she accepts wrongdoing but will not get a criminal record or face any further action.
Family and neighbours of Chantry said she had struggled in the year since she broke up with her husband, David. She was said to have remained calm when challenged by police outside the school and did not remonstrate with officers.
The incident happened just a week after the four-year-old royal started at the £18,000-a-year prep school.
Louise Chantry, 40, has been given a caution for trying to get into Prince George’s school
The young prince started school in September, when he was accompanied on his first day by his father, the Duke of Cambridge
Chantry had been able to briefly talk her way into the building posing as a legitimate visitor a day before her arrest.
She escaped when challenged by staff but was spotted again loitering nearby triggering her arrest on suspicion of attempted burglary. She was questioned at a local police station before being released on bail.
Chantry is understood to have spent ‘at least several minutes’ inside the school.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said today: ‘A 40-year-old woman has accepted a caution for causing a nuisance on school property following an incident at Thomas’s Battersea school in September.
‘The woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted burglary after she gained access to Thomas’s Battersea on Tuesday, 12 September.
‘She returned on bail to a south London police station today and accepted a police caution for an offence under the Education Act.
‘She was released with no further action in relation to attempted burglary. Thomas’s Battersea is the school attended by Prince George.’
A photo taken from a nearby cafe shows the moments after Chantry was picked up by officers and put into a police van
Chantry’s attempted entry of the school prompted a review of security around the prince
The Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force ‘continues to work with the school on protective security arrangements for His Royal Highness’.
Chantry’s mother, Rhona Crawford, 75, said after the incident that it was a ‘sad’ situation, but she believed the young prince would have been safe with her jobless holistic healer daughter.
She said: ‘She wouldn’t have done any harm to George. She just loves the royal family and loves kids. She’s been under a lot of stress. I’m very sad this has happened, it’s a horrible incident.’
She added that her daughter views the Cambridges as the perfect family and said: ‘People were in love with Diana when she was alive, this is similar. It’s a fairytale. It’s a fantasy.’
George has gone back to school after the incident and was seen being driven in through a side entrance by two members of staff.
Security was stepped up at the £18,000-a-year prep school after the incident last month
Along with his cohort, the prince is currently attending reception classes on a half-day basis and building up to staying for lunch.
Several plain-clothed officers have been spotted in the area surrounding the fee-paying school.
Thomas’s Battersea educates 560 boys and girls aged from four to 13, with around 20 pupils in each class.
Fees cost £17,604 a year, and increase to £19,884 a year for those in year three and above.
