Meghan Markle and Prince
Harry arrived at the Invictus Games today flanked by five bodyguards as
they warmly embraced the competitors while being filmed by a Netflix crew amid
a UK security row.
The Sussexes are being
protected at the games by a security team, with a burly bodyguard seen
travelling in their Land Rover as Harry drove himself to the athletics arena at
the Zuiderpark in The Hague.
Meghan sat in the front seat
while four bodyguards travelled behind in another Land Rover.
They leapt from the vehicle
when Harry pulled over onto a grass verge outside the athletes’ entrance and
formed a protective shield around the couple. All five security guards had
earpieces but there was no visible sign of any firearms among them.
Harry and Meghan have been
given VVIP (very, very important person) status and protected by local police
and members of the Dutch royal protection unit.
Harry was absent from the Duke
of Edinburgh’s memorial service in London last month amid a claim against the
Home Office after being told he would no longer be given the same degree of
personal protective security when visiting from the US, despite offering to pay
for it himself. However, in a secret visit on Thursday, he and Meghan arrived
in the UK and had short meetings with Prince Charles and Camilla, and with the
Queen.
On Saturday, Meghan
Markle made a subtle dig at the royal family after telling competitors at the
Invictus Games they know what ‘service’ is, after taking a previous potshot at
the Queen over the use of the word during the Megxit row.
