Prince Harry and Meghan
Markle’s claim that they are entitled to their own protection was exposed to
criticism today after it emerged royals such as Princess Anne, Prince Edward, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, who quietly carry out hundreds of engagements
each year, live most of their lives without taxpayer-funded security.
The Queen, Duke of
Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William and Kate all get
round-the-clock protection – while Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Sophie are
guarded only on official duties and engagements.
Senior royals carried out
3,567 engagements in 2019 – including 295 by the Queen, 521 by Charles, 194 by
Camilla, 220 by William and 126 by Kate. In the same year, Harry did 201 and
Meghan carried out 83 – while Anne did 506.
Other royals including the
Queen’s granddaughters Zara Tindall, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie do not
have state-funded security, while Prince Andrew lost his after
stepping down from royal duties in November 2019.
Beatrice and Eugenie’s
security is no longer paid for by the British taxpayer, despite them being
princesses and grandchildren of the monarch, because they are not working
royals and have full-time jobs instead.
Beatrice and Eugenie had
police protection costing £500,000 until 2011 when this was removed amid a row
over the cost, with the Queen has made it clear that she expected them to
pursue their own careers after university.
Princess Diana also famously
jettisoned her police protection team in 1993 after her divorce from Charles –
despite the Metropolitan Police making efforts to get her to change her mind
before she died in Paris in August 1997.
The budget for air travel for
royal bodyguards hit £4.6million in 2018-19, while their hotel stays cost
£2million in 2017-18. Anti-monarch group Republic estimates that taxpayers foot
a £106million annual bill on royal security.
It comes after Harry’s
assumption that taxpayers would pay for their security after the Sussexes left
the UK was branded ‘arrogant’ and ‘unworkable’ by an expert after he spoke
about the issue in the Oprah Winfrey interview.
The Duke of Sussex said in the
chat, shown on ITV on Monday, that he had to cut deals with Spotify and Netflix
after his family cut him off financially and stripped his security, forcing him
to foot the multi-million bill himself.
But in reality, the couple, who
now live in Montecito, California, had moved to a country where their royal
protection officers would have been legally unable to carry out their duties
and therefore their lives could have been put at risk as British officers
cannot carry guns under US laws or access intelligence about potential threats.
