The Duke and Duchess of Sussex should be offered 'middle ground' taxpayer-funded security that is 'reassessed' in two years' time, according to former Labour home secretary Lord David Blunkett.
Last week, Harry and Meghan revealed they would be moving from California back to the UK, six years after departing Britain to raise their children, Archie and Lilibet, in the US. With their return anticipated in the coming weeks, a dispute has erupted over the extent of publicly funded security the couple should receive.
Ravec review finalised
The Home Office has kept quiet on the level of protection the King's son and his family will be granted, but it is believed a review by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) has been finalised. The cost to the taxpayer to ensure the family's safety could reach up to £5 million per year.
Lord Blunkett, who headed the Home Office from 2001 to 2004, told The Times on Sunday: "There are three areas of security... the fully blown, blacked-out back-up car with two or three close protection - one in the passenger car and the others in the back-up - on a 24-hour basis."
'Perfectly reasonable' offer
"There's then the middle ground... where you have one or two officers who travel with the principal, as they call it. The third is they get a driver with security training," he said. "The middle of that is a perfectly reasonable thing to offer for the time being, and then it could be reassessed in a couple of years."
Another Labour heavyweight, Dame Emily Thornberry, stated that the Sussexes 'deserve to be secure', and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has also called for a 'common sense' solution regarding the question of publicly funded protection. Previously, Prime Minister Andy Burnham described the issue as 'a private matter'.
Legal dispute ongoing
Questions have been raised about the Sussexes' finances as decisions about whether taxpayers will cover their security costs remain unresolved. After his level of protection was altered when he stepped down as a working royal in 2020, the Duke has been embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute with the Home Office over security for him and his family while they are in the UK, and their arrangements may change when they become permanent residents again.
Individual decisions on protective security for key public figures, including members of the royal family, are made by Ravec - which includes the Home Office, Metropolitan Police and Royal Household - and advises an independent chairperson.
Harry and Meghan plan to live in a non-royal residence outside London when they return to the UK and have already enrolled Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in British schools. Their move follows the duke and duchess taking their children to see their grandfather the King for the first time in four years at his Highgrove home in July. The couple are not believed to have discussed the possibility of a return to the UK at that meeting.
