- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived in the UK and have reportedly been given police protection.
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are in London with their children for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
- According to The Mirror’s royal editor, Russell Myers, the family was assured they’ll be protected.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been given “cast iron assurances” that they’ll be given specialist police protection during their time in the UK, The Mirror’s royal editor, Russell Myers, reported.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived in the UK with their children Archie, 3, and Lili, who turns 1 on Saturday, according to Mail Online. The family is attending the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, which mark the monarch’s 70 years on the throne, and observing Trooping the Colour, an annual celebration to mark Queen Elizabeth’s official birthday for her, on Thursday.
According to Myers, the Sussexes flew in from California with their own personal security detail but became the responsibility of London’s Metropolitan Police upon landing.
Myers further reported that security sources said that the Met’s Royalty and Specialist Protection unit have spent weeks working alongside the prince’s team to guarantee taxpayer-funded officers. The report adds that the couple will be staying in their former home, Frogmore Cottage, on the Windsor estate, for the duration of their stay.
In April, during an exclusive interview with NBC News’ “Today” show, Harry revealed that he hoped to attend jubilee celebrations but the prospect remained uncertain. “I don’t know yet. There’s lots of things with security issues and everything else,” he said. “This is what I’m trying to do, trying to make it possible that I can get my kids to meet her.”
In September, Harry appealed for a judicial review of a government decision that barred him from personally paying for police protection while in the UK, Insider’s Lauren Edmonds reported in January.
According to The Mirror, Harry was told that the police were not “guns for hire.” The couple gave up their right to publicly-funded security when they resigned as working royals in April 2020.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, yet that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed while in the UK. In the absence of such protection, Harry and his family are unable to return to his home ,” read a statement issued by a spokesperson for the prince at the time.
Previously speaking to Insider’s Mikhaila Friel, Simon Morgan, a former royal protection officer who worked for the Queen from 2007 until 2013, said that the decision to grant police protection to the Sussexes would set a “difficult precedent.”
“When you get to a point where you can pay for it, that would set a difficult precedent. Because if you can pay for it, it can effectively go to the highest bidder,” Morgan told Insider.
Representatives for Buckingham Palace and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
www.insider.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism