On reddit someone detailed the kind of personal protection Salman Rushdie had. I doubt this is what Harry wants for him and his family ….
False identity and social isolation
- The pseudonym "Joseph Anton": He could not use his real name for any official procedures, reservations, or rentals. He chose the name by combining those of his favorite authors: Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov.
- Constant relocation: During the initial months of the threat, the author and his then-wife, Marianne Wiggins, moved 56 times (averaging one move every three days) to prevent his location from leaking.
- Fortified safe houses: He later settled in secret, government-provided properties featuring bulletproof glass, reinforced doors, advanced alarm systems, and secure containment zones or "panic rooms." Armed military escort and transport
Permanent protection:
He was constantly surrounded by at least two armed plainclothes agents and two specialized police drivers.
Armored vehicles: He traveled exclusively in two high-security armored cars moving in a convoy to throw off potential attackers.
Airline ban: Airlines such as British Airways barred him from flying on their commercial flights for nearly the entire decade, deeming him a high-level security risk to other passengers.
Strict communication controls
- No direct contact: All his letters, packages, and phone calls were intercepted, checked, and screened by British intelligence due to the risk of letter bombs or landline tracing.
- Incognito appearances: If Rushdie needed to attend an essential literary event, police would secure the venue hours in advance, ban backpacks, and whisk the author out through emergency exits the moment he finished speaking.
"The longer the protection lasted, the easier it was for people to believe that no one was trying to kill me and that I wanted that security solely to satisfy my vanity and my insufferable egomania." That is what Rushdie said when he decided he no longer wanted that security. He preferred to take the risk.
Following the 2022 attack in New York, Rushdie took precautions such as hiring—at his own expense—omnipresent private security and mandating access controls and metal detectors in his contracts; he lives in a residence equipped with advanced video surveillance, biometric access systems, and structural hardening to prevent tracking. He also maintained anonymity in his daily routine, minimizing spontaneous walks around Manhattan. His daily movements are coordinated using chauffeured security vehicles and pre-vetted routes.
During the ten years Salman Rushdie lived in hiding, the extreme isolation and constant tension of Operation Malachite completely destroyed his married life, leading to the end of one marriage and the unraveling of another.