The campaign to secure Prince Harry state-funded security upon his return to the United Kingdom is well underway, despite the fact that just 2 percent of the British people think the government should be responsible for paying Harry’s security bill.
It might seem incredible that Harry and Meghan, who less than four years ago were roundly criticizing the British royal family, now appear, without having issued any apology or even an expression of regret for having upset people, to be coming back to the U.K. with many of the benefits of being members of the royal family.
Any idea that the King is not involved is, frankly, absurd. Harry is being folded back into British life by his father.
It’s going to go down incredibly badly, the plan that these two people who think the monarchy is terrible, cruel, duplicitous, deceptive, uncaring (pick your own pejorative adjective) are now back in a better position than any non-working members of the royal family have ever been in.
Even the most basic level of protection is going to cost serious money. Round-the-clock cover with one officer on duty at all times requires a team of at least five officers—once you allow for weekends, leave, and sickness. At £80,000 ($109,000) per year, that’s £400,000 ($545,000) in salaries alone. Once you add employer costs, vehicles, and overtime, you’re looking at something closer to £700,000 ($950,000) a year.
More significant is the general establishment softening-up program. David Blunkett, a former British Home Secretary, is quoted in The Times saying the Sussexes should be given a “medium level” of government-funded protection when they move back to the U.K., calling this a “happy medium.” Another government minister said it was “hard to imagine how he and his family would not receive some protection.”
And by a huge, huge coincidence, RAVEC (the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, the body responsible for determining security protection in the U.K.) has finally completed its long-awaited risk management board review. Don’t forget that this review was carried out in defiance of a court ruling after Harry personally lobbied the current Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.
That this is all being enabled by the King is made very clear by the complete lack of censure applied over the past six years in respect to Harry, despite all the negative effects and massive destabilization he has had on the monarchy.
It’s very telling that we haven’t heard anything at all from William and Catherine. Not a peep! Perhaps they were encouraged by the fact that Harry’s spokespeople are now saying he might only be back in the U.K. for three months?
The other possibility we cannot rule out is that the King is much sicker than we have been led to believe, and that this is why Harry is coming home. I personally don’t think the King is at the end of his life, as The Royalist has reported, but I don’t think he is averse to letting the populace think he is as cover.
There needs to be crystal clear, on-the-record communication from the King’s office. Charles has gone too far down the road of transparency to retreat now into the sort of myth that surrounded his mother, Queen Elizabeth—that she was never going to die, that she was somehow immortal.
Otherwise, the King looks weak—and the British public will not tolerate it. The final straw for many would surely come when the Sussexes arrive at Heathrow and are met by a police escort.
It would be outrageous. They were told by the courts that they weren’t entitled to it, and they’ve gone around the back door. Harry’s sources have told The Royalist repeatedly that the King could get security for his son and it looks like he has now done so. Defying the people is a very unwise move for a monarch. We haven’t heard the end of this.
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