Royal correspondent Kinsey Schofield has told Earl Spencer to fund Prince Harry's security using profits from his memoir, after the earl backed police protection for his nephew.
Speaking on Talk TV, Schofield criticised Spencer for profiting from his deceased sister, Princess Diana, and said that if he feels strongly about Harry's protection, he should personally finance it from his book earnings.
"If you are making millions and millions of dollars off your dead sister," she said, "the least you can do is fund Harry's security."
Earl's security concerns
The swipe follows Spencer's assertion that Harry and his wife Meghan deserve official protection because they face similar media treatment to how his sister was hounded in the years before her death.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: "I would say that I personally worry about the fifth in line to the throne who's served in the military not having any police protection."
He told Laura Kuenssberg: "From a security aspect, as an uncle who's seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances, I would veer towards protection."
The earl added that the tabloid treatment of Diana, and Harry and Meghan, could be "really, really unpleasant" and therefore it was "beholden on people" to learn from the past.
Ravec decision pending
Following the Sussexes' relocation to the UK, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, Ravec, convened last week and will now decide whether the couple qualify for state-funded security. This follows the couple's decision to move Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet from their school after merely two days owing to security worries.
Harry's automatic high-level protection was stripped away when he departed from his duties as a working royal in 2020.
Upon his return to the UK in late August, the King made it evident that the pair would still be unable to utilise the titles of "His and Her Royal Highness", and would remain "private citizens", in correspondence sent on Charles's behalf by the Lord Chamberlain, a senior Palace official.
The King's correspondence added that any enquiries regarding the reception to be afforded to the Sussexes, "particularly where recourse to public funds may be required, should be directed to Buckingham Palace".
Earl's stance on both princes
Discussing William and Harry, Earl Spencer said: "I'm on my deceased sister's sons' side, both of them. And if either of them wanted anything, then I'd be equally there for them."
"And I never get involved in one camp or the other, except as a benign figure, I hope."
In the Talk TV clip, presented by Jeremy Kyle, the broadcaster said he "can't believe" that Harry and Spencer aren't in "cahoots".
Schofield added that the earl said "both princes were aware what I was going to write", though the presenters claimed they doubt William would have permitted the damaging remarks about his father to be published.
