The entire royalist-media ecosystem is singularly focused on obfuscating one thing this week: why was Prince Harry’s risk assessment mysteriously “paused” several months ago? Not only that, but why wasn’t Harry informed of this risk-assessment pause until last Friday, after he confirmed his family’s trip to the UK? From the way the royalists are carrying on, you’d think that it was always widely-known and accepted that the British establishment would do anything and everything to put the Sussex family in as much danger as possible! Like, how dare “stupid” Harry try to visit his father, doesn’t he know that powerful forces will target him? And this crap with the “emotional blackmail” is genuinely the stupidest talking point ever. You can really tell that it came from Prince William. So, here’s what Tom Sykes and Alison Boshoff said to each other on Sykes’ podcast (once again, the “two dumb bitches” meme came to life).

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are scheming to “emotionally blackmail” King Charles in a “cynical” attempt to reclaim their taxpayer-funded police protection, according to a pair of royal commentators. Harry, 41, announced on Monday that he was reconsidering bringing Meghan, 44, and their two children on a much-hyped trip to the U.K. in July because his request for a security package by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) was rejected by British authorities.

But the Sussexes have not been entitled to RAVEC security since they left their roles as working royals and moved to California. On The Royalist Podcast, host Tom Sykes and Daily Mail showbiz correspondent Alison Boshoff questioned why the couple spent months planning the U.K. tour before threatening to call it off over security concerns.

“It just felt to me like a really blatant attempt and a really, actually mean attempt to kind of bounce down Charles, or to kind of emotionally blackmail Charles, into intervening in the security decisions of the British state,” said Sykes, the Daily Beast’s royal expert and European editor-at-large. “For all my criticisms of Charles, I think to his eternal credit, he has just consistently said, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ You know, ‘I’m not going to intervene in that.’”

Boshoff, the Daily Mail’s editor-at-large, added, “Harry seems to be intent on trying to, by one way or another, get him to cross the line.”

Since Harry and Meghan’s taxpayer-funded security detail was downgraded in 2020, Harry has repeatedly challenged the decision in court—only to lose every case. It appeared that he had accepted the situation when the Sussex office sent out a minute-by-minute rundown of the U.K. tour on Friday, confirming that Harry would be accompanied by Meghan and their two kids. But two days later, a spokesperson for the Sussexes suggested the family trip won’t happen without RAVEC security.

“The issue has never been accommodation. The issue is whether appropriate and proportionate protective security is being provided throughout the entirety of the visit,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Sykes remarked, “It’s six years since you had it. Like, that’s the status quo. You can’t pretend that the continuation of the status quo is a massive bolt from the blue.”

Boshoff added, “Either [Harry is] prey to a terrible, irrational paranoia… or he’s exceedingly manipulative and has been lying… in a bid to try and bounce his unwell father into doing something which he knows full well his father doesn’t want to do.”

Sykes argued that the family would have “ultimately” been safe with or without a royal security detail, noting that Harry and Meghan accepted Charles’ offer to stay at a royal residence last week. “It just feels to me like they’re just eternally offended that they got the status connected with the security taken away,” Sykes said.

[From The Daily Beast]

“But the Sussexes have not been entitled to RAVEC security since they left their roles as working royals…” False. The original Sandringham Summit plan ensured royal protection for a year, only that as yanked in February or March 2020. In the last years of QEII’s reign, she guaranteed that the Sussexes would have royal protection, even sending some of her own security people to protect Harry and Meghan. After she died, Charles changed that, and now Harry has to apply for police security and give 28 days notice. Which is what he did for this month’s visit, he applied and gave 28-days notice. He also believed that RAVEC would follow-through (as they promised) to complete a risk assessment in March. RAVEC paused the assessment, didn’t inform Harry until last Friday, and they turned down his security request in addition to that, despite refusing to complete a risk assessment. Harry wasn’t joking when he called this rolling catastrophe an “establishment stitch-up.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.