As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to the UK, former senior royal protection officer Scott Hamer told Sky's Laura Bundock that the state should fund their security. In a bombshell interview, Hamer suggested that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's security should be funded by British taxpayers. "The state has a duty to protect people at risk," he told the news channel. "It's as simple as that." The former royal protection officer continued: "Try and keep the subjectivity out of it and try and look at this objectively. In my view, Prince Harry should receive state protection."
Family Relocates to UK
Harry and Meghan planned to relocate from the US to a private, non-royal residence outside London, with their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, enrolled to start at school in September. Their UK security was downgraded after they stopped being working royals in 2020 and moved to the US, where they have paid for their own protection.
The Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), an independent body overseen by the Home Office, had concluded that because Harry was going to be an infrequent visitor to the UK, his security needs would be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the couple's security arrangements were a "private matter".
Security Questions Remain Unresolved
Sky News' royal correspondent Laura commented: "These questions around security and whether or not they should have tax-payer funded security, so police protection when they are here, still hasn't been resolved it seems. It's interesting hearing from Scott Hamer. He worked for two decades as royal security. He worked with [now King Charles] for five years. He wrote protection policy. He knows this system. He thinks it's simply unbelievable that a meeting with the risk management board should take months and months."
She added: "[Hamer] makes a very valid point. He says that Prince Harry, in admitting that he's had to pay for his own security on recent trips to the UK, is in many ways, showing an increased vulnerability purely because the moment he will not have armed police with him people can be aware of that and there remains a very significant risk for him."
Home Office Assessing Case Again
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were met by their private security team as they arrived in the UK on Wednesday. According to reports, the Home Office is "actively assessing" Harry's case again, sources told The Mirror, after the duke wrote personally to Shabana Mahmood asking for a renewed assessment of his security situation. It has been suggested, now the family have moved to the UK for an extended period, sources said the "goalposts have moved".
