Six years on from their dramatic UK departure, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are returning from California with their two small children. Royal watchers have many questions: Where will they live and where will Archie and Lilibet go to school? What does this say about Harry’s strained relationship with his father King Charles and brother William? And can Meghan forgive William’s wife Catherine after they fell out over whether the latter’s daughter wore tights to Harry’s wedding?
Keeping a royal safe is expensive. As the former Home Secretary David Blunkett has disclosed, the Metropolitan Police provides three levels of security for the Windsors, government ministers, some ex-politicians deemed at risk and visiting bigwigs. The first is simply offering a driver with security training, the second is assigning one or two armed officers, and the third is placing armed police inside the VIP’s car plus supplying a backup vehicle. it’s reasonable to ask how it will be funded While it’s hard to argue with his assessment. Andy Burnham, Britain’s new prime minister, describes the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s security arrangements as “a private matter. That doesn’t stack up given the likely police costs. And the optics around this are more important than the pure numbers at a time when Brits are struggling financially and taxes are rising. Some lawmakers in Burnham’s ruling Labour Party reckon the state should stump up to keep the Sussexes safe. Voters have a different view. The country must now provide security for an unprecedented nine living ex-PMs. The horrible murder of former Home Office minister Ann Widdecombe this summer has stoked concern about the extent that all politicians, past or present, are vulnerable. (Rosa Prince is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering UK politics and policy.)
Because of the UK’s recent revolving door of prime ministers, plus the VIP protection budgets are already under pressure. The price of the specialist teams is confidential, but several politicians and security experts estimate it at between £3 million ($4.1 million) and £5 million a year per individual or family. A new poll for The Times shows 71 per cent believe the government shouldn’t pay for any of the couple’s security costs. Only 2 per cent say the state should pick up the tab in full.
