JUST WHO WILL PAY FOR HARRY & MEGHAN’S SECURITY? FEARS GROW THEIR UK RETURN COULD COST TAXPAYERS £5MILLION A YEAR…
PRINCELY SUM
Just WHO will pay for Meghan & Harry’s security? Fears grow UK return could cost taxpayer £5million-a-year
HARRY and Meghan’s bombshell announcement that they are returning to the UK has thrown the spotlight on their security once again.
Prince Harry has repeatedly claimed the UK isn’t safe for his kids to visit, meaning King Charles has only met his grandchildren a handful of times.
Prince Harry at the High Court for a hearing in his battle over taxpayer-funded securityCredit: Getty
Harry has repeatedly claimed the UK isn’t safe for his kids to visitCredit: instagram/meghan
The Duke of Sussex, 41, fought and lost a long-winding court battle in an attempt to reinstate his taxpayer-funded security.
He even claimed “my life is at stake” after he lost the three-and-a-half year legal fight.
In May last year, Harry also claimed stripping him of his security was a plot to force him and Meghan Markle back to Britain.
The couple made a dramatic exit from public life and moved to California six years ago – but now they are returning, with The Sun revealing the move in a world exclusive.
But the question of their security – and how it will be paid for – remains.
Sources have claimed that protection for the Sussex family could cost the taxpayer up to £5million a year.
Harry claimed stripping him of his security was a plot to force him and Meghan back to BritainCredit: AFP
Both seven-year-old Archie and Lilibet, five, are set to go to school in the UK in SeptemberCredit: Refer to Caption
If they decided to pay for their security privately, the guards could not be armedCredit: Jack Hill/The Times, The Sunday Times.
With nine former Prime Ministers in the queue for protection, the system is backlogged, it is understood.Credit: Alamy
If they decided to pay for their security privately, the guards could not be armed, as the law around who can carry guns is extremely strict in the UK.
Bodyguards can’t carry pepper spray, mace, batons or Tasers either.
The Sun revealed Harry had won a new Government review into the risks he and his family face in the UK.
A new threat assessment is due to be carried out – but has been delayed as the board responsible for carrying out the reviews has stalled.
The Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) has temporarily paused any new evaluations from the Risk Management board for at least four months.
With nine former Prime Ministers in the queue for protection, the system is backlogged, it is understood.
Sources have now confirmed the whole family will return at the end of the monthCredit: Getty
He even claimed ‘my life is at stake’ after he lost the three-and-a-half year legal fightCredit: BBC
It’s unclear if the family has been given security assurances for their return and whether the financial burden will fall on the British taxpayer.
It is also not yet known if there have been any changes in the Home Office’s security position on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The Sussexes will continue with their business enterprises, sources say, and are understood to not be working as royals when they return.
This likely means they won’t qualify for the level of security Prince Harry used to have before they left the UK six years ago.
Other non-working royals only get a limited level of security, instead of 24-hour armed security guards.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “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.”
PM Andy Burnham insisted their security arrangements were a “private matter” and wished the couple “well in the move”.
Meghan, Archie and Lilibet spent an extended trip in Britain last month, when they also met Charles and Camilla at Highgrove, without taxpayer-funded armed cops.
It was claimed King Charles offered to help cover their security arrangements for the trip.
Sources have now confirmed the whole family will return at the end of this month.
They are expected to remain in Britain while Archie and Lilibet are in education – even though they have their home in California, where they are protected by private security.
Sources say if there are discussions on any future role for Harry it would need to take place between him and his father, the King.
Both seven-year-old Archie and Lilibet, five, are set to go to school in the UK in September but Sussex sources will not reveal where they will be attending.
Harry and Meghan interviewed by Oprah WinfreyCredit: Reuters
In his book Spare, Harry heavily criticised the British press and made startling revelations about his familyCredit: Alamy
It is understood that Meghan will also continue to run As Ever, her food and lifestyle brand, while living in the UK.
She has reportedly been offered a return to acting as she prepares to come back to the country.
However, no details of any role or project have been confirmed by the Sussexes.
LA-born Meghan appeared in movies Horrible Bosses and Remember Me, and got her big break in TV legal series Suits.
We previously reported that Harry and Meghan secretly visited the Cotswolds to find a new home when they came to Britain last month.
The Duchess of Sussex is understood to have also discreetly gone there alone while Harry was at an Invictus Games event in Birmingham.
And the Royal Family’s annual summer gathering at Balmoral has reportedly turned into a summit on Prince Harry and Meghan’s return from the US.
The get-together, which began today, includes the King and Queen, plus the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The shock reversal follows both Harry and Meghan criticising Britain and the Royal Family in recent years.
Speaking in Afghanistan in 2008, Harry said: “I generally don’t like England that much.”
Interviewed on the Apple TV+ show The Me You Can’t See released a year after Megxit, he said: “For most of my life I always felt worried, concerned, a little bit tense and uptight whenever I fly back into the UK, whenever I fly back into London.
He added: “For me, London is a trigger because of what happened to my mum.”
The couple also alleged on their Oprah Winfrey tell-all that the Royal Family had made racist comments about their unborn children.
In his book Spare, Harry heavily criticised the British press and made startling revelations about his family.
The memoir described a fight with William, said his father pleaded “Please, boys, don’t make my final years a misery” at Prince Philip’s funeral, and revealed he had pleaded with Charles not to marry Camilla.
King Charles evicted the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage in Windsor in January 2023 just days after Harry released his tell-all book Spare, which slammed the Royal family.
A whole episode of their six-part Netflix series Harry & Meghan was devoted to comparing the opposition to the couple with the Brexit vote and branded the Commonwealth “Empire 2.0.”
This was despite the fact that Harry and Meghan were for several years Commonwealth Youth Ambassadors after being appointed by the late Queen.
