Duke of Sussex security to be reviewed

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The Duke of Sussex lost his argument in the Court of Appeal in May for automatic taxpayer security: the current arrangement is that his security needs are assessed on a case-by-case basis provided he gives notice.

He has recently been in touch with the new Home Secretary, and the latest update is that RAVEC has asked its Risk Management Board (RMB) to reassess his threat level.

Telegraph archive link

Oh you misunderstood!
these comments are not abusive they simply all say the same things!
harry and Meghan are not liked and not wanted back in the U.K.

So why do Harry and his wife frequently post details about their 'engagements' weeks in advance?

You seem to think you and Harry have considered things which highly experienced experts in close personal protection have not.

You are acting like having to give notice is some major imposition on an individual who is basically unemployed. Not to mention that advance notice is required in order for security arrangements to be planned. It's not like armed guards can just spring into action every time Harry decides to pop over. Harry's 'wants' are frankly irrelevant. Why do you think someone who gives nothing to the country and doesn't even live here should get such special treatment?

You see I think it was the other way around. Harry was never ever content with being number 2. He’s very thick and entitled. When Wills met Kate he got a secure grounded lovely family and she will stick with him. Harry wanted the same but Cressida and Chelsea didn’t want to marry him (or in his mind they didn’t love him enough to marry into the goldfish hell of his life). Harry got Megs down the aisle as quick as he could before she changed her mind - not his.

I can well believe some of what she says eg the wedding just ours in the back garden is what Harry has told her. She wanted out and he wanted out of the UK under appreciated and not allowed to be global and be under his brother’s beady eye etc

I think it is Meghan who has been played by him.

Well, it was in the court documents so he should know. Not that reading is really Harry's 'thing'!

Don’t forget they didn’t just insult his family members, they insulted the entire country!

I used to think Meghan would never set foot in the UK again. Now I think she might, if she believed she would get a sympathetic reception. I would guess this is part of the PR brief.

It’s also important to distinguish between being unpopular and endangered. She might face boos and harsh comments but whether there is any actual physical risk to her is debatable.

Meghan has been played by Harry? That's a new perspective. I agree in part. She's the sharp one and targeted him. But he strikes me as a man desperate to marry and have children so he would be in a hurry.

As for Chelsey and Cressida, I think they both understood that in addition to being in the Royal goldfish bowl, marriage to Harry would involve a heavy and wearing emotional load. I imagine he sulks, is easily hurt, angry and unreasonable.

Interesting but can’t agree. They were intimate almost immediately and in Meghan’s case very enthusiastically (Harry wrote about this in Spare), she really wanted to seal the deal. She was the one doing all the travelling during their long distance courtship, (Spare again). She was very committed despite being warned off by friends, she was not going to change her mind. That’s not a criticism btw, just an observation.

I heard (but may be wrong), that Harry wanted his uk armed police protection reinstated as just prior to him leaving the UK he was assessed as having the highest risk level. His own security is not permitted to carry arms in the UK, he also offered to cover the cost of the uk police protection (so there was no burden on the uk taxpayer), this was declined because a private citizen cannot pay for uk police protection (as it’s a public service). So he can only come to the UK with his own unarmed private security which he felt was insufficient based on the risk.

Yes, you are indeed wrong on a number of points.

Harry wanted his uk armed police protection reinstated as just prior to him leaving the UK he was assessed as having the highest risk level.

There is no evidence that Harry was ever 'at the highest risk level'. RAVEC categorised him as a Tier Two indivdiual.

he also offered to cover the cost of the uk police protection

No such offer was recieved by the relevant body.

So he can only come to the UK with his own unarmed private security which he felt was insufficient based on the risk.

That is not correct. RAVEC are keeping the Sussex family's security needs under continual review and provided he give sufficient notice, protection will be assigned based on current risk assessments.

Ok. Thanks for the clarification. 😀

Ah yes! The Harry offered to pay for his security pr spin!
that the media ( I forget which one ) ran a story about how this offer was 1 not genuine and 2 was made after the fact to make him seem less grabby.
as I recall he tried to sue but was rebuffed because it was shown to be true! 🙄

Absolutely, if us tax payers end up paying for an unemployed Prince to swan about on his jollys whenever the hell he feels like it, it will go down like a cup of cold sick with the public.

Oh yes I believe it would lead to Andrew level heckling of Charles!
which will be sad because it would be the government to blame!
perhaps stories of starmer using Harry to make the rf unpopular with the public are true?!!

@Icantsaythis - that's interesting . Maybe it is a folie a deux ( not in the strict sense - not at all ) but I suspect he was somewhat culpable in their marriage ( or just even dimmer than people thought he was. ) I don't exclude M because I think she thought all her Christmases had come at once , marrying a prince of the realm. It could be 6 of one and half a dozen of the other - And it may be , but - cleverer more self aware people (IMHO - and it is only my opinion ) could have carved out a better life - but but but that is my idea of a better life - not theirs.

They chose what they wanted to do - OK they had been turned down from the ideal they wanted but they did it anyway.

I do agree with @jeffgoldblum - the H&M docuthing annoyed me because I did think it cast a pall over UK citizens , implying they (. whole of the UK ) were racist. Of course there are some , but not all.

I also think @Ohpleeeease is right. H&M are only above a squidge in popularity above He Who Shall Not be Named. But not being popular and being booed is a great deal different to having a pot shot taken at you. I can't believe from Heathrow to the Windsor estate there isn't a way of getting there safely to see family.

I think most people in the UK are utterly indifferent to H&M. Don't want them back , don't care what they do in California. I think some would rather M didn't trade on the RF and some would rather H wouldn't make a tit of himself.

A fair few ( I include myself ) would be v interested in checking H has paid his legal fees , but I don't know whether this is ever released to the public.

Well there you have it from The Office of Basilisk 😂

Do I need to say other opinion are available ? Right - important stuff , nearly finished decorating the tree. 🌲A good day's work 🎄

I actually think there might be something in that 🤔

And this is exactly why, as I said above, Harry was completely dumb, even by his low standards, to make a song and dance about his 'security'.

If he hadn't, very few people would have given a moment's thought to his security arrangements. Now the fool has made it a matter for public discussion. Not only is that very unwise from a security perspective, it's also going to make Harry even more unpopular than he already is.

There's hasn't been a new, formal risk assessment until now. Who did this alleged assessment, I wonder?

The deluded fool really thinks the public want to pay for his security, didn’t he say something along the lines of how devastated the public would be if anything happened to him?

I don’t think he deserves special treatment actually. I think he should be put on the same level as every other British citizen who has family in two different counties who can come and go more or less as they please once visas are in place, with a reasonable expectation of safety when they arrive in the UK.

In other words, I have some sympathy for the fact that Harry can’t avoid being a member of the RF and the attention good or bad, that currently comes with that.

🙄

Neither Anne nor Edward have 24/7 armed security . Sophie , The DoK, DoG and Princess Alexandra are also Working Royals and do not have 24/7 security.
Only KC , QC and Wales family have full security .
None of the non working Royals have security. Harry is no longer a working Royal so what makes him different ?

Edited: apologies I have attached this post to wrong quotation.

It was meant to be in reply to Mylovelygreendress

Well we paid for a police escort for Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson to attend the Duchess of Kent’s funeral and no doubt on other occasions we were unaware of!

Personally I think it’s a very good thing that we discuss security costs in more detail and that the great British public are aware of these costs as it comes out of the public purse.

For example. the security cost for QE2´s funeral and the 10 days of national mourning was around £73.7 million, and was described by the Met as the greatest policing event in their history.

And this was closely followed by KC3’s Coronation, for which the security costs were £21.7 million.

That’s a total of £95.4 million in security that many British tax payers may have objected to paying, especially for the Coronation, had they been consulted.

I have yet to understand why people think that Harry, with the 'bespoke' security arrangement that he has at present, deserves a better arrangement than his aunt and uncle who are working members of the Royal Family.

A reminder of the things Harry was saying after he lost the appeal
https://archive.ph/kfUkL
-Reducing protection was trying to 'trap' them in the Royal Family (presumably done by the King/members of the family)
-The Royal Household put pressure on RAVEC to reduce his security (we know that in fact the Queen wrote to RAVEC acknowledging that she couldn't intervene but stating her wish for him to have security)
-He had given 35 years service to his country (he left the UK at 35)
-'Some people want history to repeat itself'

I don’t think he deserves special treatment actually. I think he should be put on the same level as every other British citizen who has family in two different counties who can come and go more or less as they please once visas are in place, with a reasonable expectation of safety when they arrive in the UK.

So just to clarify things before we go any further,.

Do you believe the arrangements Harry has now are inadequate? That RAVEC, who have an excellent record, have got this wrong and you and Harry know better?

In other words, I have some sympathy for the fact that Harry can’t avoid being a member of the RF and the attention good or bad, that currently comes with that.

That's a very evasive response.

Being a member of the royal family does not mean you are guaranteed round the clock security. Especially when you have chosen to live on another continent.

It would be great if people could say exactly what is wrong with Harry's current arrangements and explain the logistics of how they could be improved. But I very much doubt we'll see that.