Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's UK return might have started with farcical scenes but could end with taxpayers paying for them to live their dream life as celebrity VIPs. Ever since their wedding, where taxpayers footed the huge bill for their heavy security, the Sussexes have appeared to want to be treated as celebrities.
The A-listers invited to their nuptials included George Clooney, Idris Elba, David and Victoria Beckham, Serena Williams, Tom Hardy, Oprah Winfrey, Carey Mulligan, James Blunt and James Corden. Hollywood icon George Clooney, 65, and his human rights lawyer wife Amal, 48, reportedly admitted when asked in St George's Chapel that they did not actually know Harry or Meghan but had overlapping charity connections.
Celebrity Treatment at Public Expense
Now Harry and Meghan feel they too are celebrities and want to be treated as such, at the public's expense. Yet even these Hollywood and globally-recognised sporting legends do not travel round the UK with armed Metropolitan Police protection teams.
Earlier this month the Sussexes whipped Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet out of their new school after allegedly failing to realise how frenetic the morning drop-off would be for their own security teams. Parents at the school reportedly were left stunned after the Sussexes "rocked up in blacked-out cars" to do their drop off.
School Switch and Security Review
A convoy of blacked-out cars to drop off two young children is hardly keeping things grounded and inconspicuous. Whatever the truth behind it, the revelation of the school switch has now become incredibly convenient for the Sussexes.
As the youngsters start at a completely different school, the switch can be seized upon by their team to pressure Home Office staff into giving them taxpayer-funded police protection. Currently, the only protection the Sussexes have been given by UK police is the phone number of a police liaison officer, although they are still able to use their exorbitant wealth to fund unarmed but elite private security officers.
Ravec Review and Legal History
Prince Harry has been told he will get his security reviewed following his UK return, with the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) confirming a discussion has already taken place. The official review carried out by Ravec is called a Risk Management Board, or RMB. Meghan will have her own RMB, while Harry only last had one in July, but that was before the Sussexes suddenly returned to Britain.
Harry previously took legal action against the Home Office over the matter, which caused further tensions between him and his father, King Charles. In 2025 Harry told the BBC he could not "see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point" due to ongoing safety issues.
Now his dream of being treated as a working royal, without having to do the daily grind of attending events in any official capacity, could be on the horizon. Harry and Meghan can soon act like VIP royalty but have no responsibilities.
