Whether Prince Harry and his family should, or should not, get taxpayer-funded police protection when they are in the United Kingdom is a deeply polarising question.
The Duke of Sussex’s first priority is keeping himself and his family safe, and he is still furious a Home Office committee downgraded his security level when he stood back as a working member of the Royal Family in 2020.
Many have asked me what security The Prince actually gets in the United Kingdom.
The answer? A phone number for a police liaison officer, with many more digits than the country’s quick 999 emergency call system.
Apart from his own private bodyguards, who are legally banned from carrying firearms and do not have access to police or secret intelligence, the King’s second son and his family have limited protection.
No specialist vehicle escort, personal protection officers, reinforced barriers, or snipers on rooftops.
Sometimes, local police forces have taken pity on the Prince and provided a small amount of support out of their own budgets.
Yet, around-the-clock armed police protection costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds each year, which six years ago was deemed disproportionate for a former working royal.
The Duke of Sussex is said to be reconsidering bringing his children to the UK
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The Duke of Sussex lost a High Court appeal to overturn this decision.
He had also offered to pay for his own police protection, but a judge declared police were ‘not for sale’ – ruling wealthy individuals should not have the right to hire officers for their own personal protection.
Last November, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) decided an independent Risk Management Board (RMB) should take place to conduct an objective assessment of Prince Harry’s current threat level and vulnerability.
The RMB would then make recommendations to RAVEC about the appropriate and bespoke package of protective security needed to protect Prince Harry and his family.
King Charles last saw his grandchildren through the Duke at the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022
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Despite The Duke’s office being told the RMB was happening in March, it is understood they only found out on Friday that all assessments had been “paused” without explanation, and RAVEC had therefore not updated their stance on Prince Harry’s security situation.
The Royal Household had made the offer to Prince Harry he and his family could stay in a protected royal residence during their stay, but no reply has been received.
A spokesman for the Duke of Sussex has told GB News: “Prince Harry’s programme in the United Kingdom includes both public and private engagements across the country. Safe accommodation is only one element of an effective protective security plan because risk follows the person, not the place.”
“The issue has never been accommodation. The issue is whether appropriate and proportionate protective security is being provided throughout the entirety of the visit. The independent Risk Management Board that RAVEC itself decided was necessary last November has still not taken place. It is therefore difficult to understand how the proportionality of the current arrangements can credibly be maintained without that independent assessment.”
“The Duke continues to explore every available option to enable the visit to proceed safely and to give his children the opportunity to enjoy the UK.”
King Charles has not seen his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for four years.
The Home Office declined to comment on specifics, but told the People’s Channel: “The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate.”
“It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”
Critics of The Duke persistently argue he is his own worst enemy, and his security problems are of his own making.
Firstly, he stood back as a working royal – giving up official duties.
The Sussexes wanted to represent Queen Elizabeth II with official duties while having financial independence in a half-in, half-out model, but the late Queen declined.
Prince Harry also likened the 25 Taliban fighters he killed in Afghanistan as “chess pieces” in his controversial memoir Spare.
Prince Harry has also publicly criticised his family and the institution several times, leading to a collapse in popularity from the British people.
On the latter, the Prince would argue he was “correcting the record” on stories he deemed were unfair and inaccurate.
Some even question whether Prince Harry is simply paranoid, and there are no real threats against him.
Twenty-five years after his own mother was tragically killed in a car crash in Paris while being chased by paparazzi, Prince Harry’s office put out a statement claiming he and Meghan had been involved in a “near catastrophic car chase”, yet the taxi driver who drove them subsequently claimed they were sitting in Manhattan traffic for a majority of the time.
The fact is nobody knows the true level of threat against the fifth in line to the throne.
The Taliban publicly condemned his “chess pieces” comment, and a deranged stalker has got just feet away from him on several occasions.
Last September, she had to be body blocked by a member of Prince Harry’s office to prevent her from getting any closer, and was found hiding in the toilets of a hotel Prince Harry was due to arrive at
Working members of the Royal Family are not the only people provided police protection from RAVEC.
Taylor Swift during her Eras Tour, for example, received taxpayer-funded police escorts and protection. However, she brought in millions to the UK economy.
All former Prime Ministers, including Liz Truss, who was in office for less than 50 days, receive armed police protection for life.
Salman Rushdie’s publication of the Satanic Verses led to a decade’s worth of 24-hour armed police protection for himself, paid for with £10million of public money.
All of these decisions are made by RAVEC and Prince Harry’s own security team provided them with a Threat Risk Assessment (TRA) at the start of this year.
It appears they have declined to provide any extra security for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit next week, but threat levels are not the only factor in its decision making.
Other factors are thought to be involved, including the optics or politics of protecting a specific person.
Membership of RAVEC includes individuals in the Home Office (but not the Home Secretary), Metropolitan Police, Cabinet Office, and the Royal Household.
The King’s Principal Private Secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, is known to sit on the discretionary committee, and has done so for many years.
Prince Harry and Sir Clive are thought to have a notoriously tense and hostile relationship.
He likened him to “The Wasp” in his memoir Spare for allegedly being servile, but stinging those who crossed him.
There is no evidence members of the Royal Household are attempting to punish Prince Harry for stepping back as a working royal.
As headlines are dominated by an increasingly public security row, the real reason for Prince Harry’s visit is being buried.
The Invictus Games, founded by Prince Harry and the Royal Foundation to support sick and injured veterans and serving personnel in a paralympic-style competition, marks its one-year countdown in Birmingham next week.
Its a chance for The Prince to celebrate the achievements of hundreds of athletes, who’ve duty and service to their countries rightly deserve praise.
Unfortunately, his mind appears to be elsewhere.
No one knows what, if anything, threatens Prince Harry and his family’s safety in the United Kingdom.
Those close to him fear, however, it’ll take a dangerous and potentially life-threatening incident for anything to change.