With all of the controversy and commentary around Prince Harry and Meghan’s security situation in the UK, I’m starting to wonder if something else is going on. Like, I believe that Harry learned “at the 11th hour” that RAVEC paused their risk assessment and would not provide any security for Harry, Meghan or the children. But I also think that the outsized “controversy” is about Prince William and various British media figures trying to figure out and control the Sussexes’ plans, schedule and locations. Speaking of, the Mail’s Richard Eden is going Full Bald Demon Mouthpiece this week:

On the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential, royal expert Richard Eden accuses the Sussexes of trying to ‘manipulate’ their way to taxpayer-funded police protection. The Diary Editor claimed Harry and Meghan have not accepted the Palace’s offer of a royal residence for their upcoming stay in Britain on grounds that were the Sussexes to make use of one, they would require round-the-clock security. Eden sees this as a negotiating tactic by Harry, trying to establish a precedent that the Sussexes are given police protection when they stay with the wider Royal Family.

Over the weekend it emerged that the Prince is said to be reconsidering bringing his wife and children to Britain over the Home Office’s refusal to grant the family taxpayer-funded security. The trip, due to begin in just over a week, was touted by those close to the Sussexes as an opportunity to introduce Lilibet and Archie ‘to their wider family.’

‘Frankly, this all seems like a bit of a trap’, Eden told co-host Richard Kay. ‘Harry and Meghan said they will stay at a royal residence only if each time they leave with their children, they are guaranteed security. They are putting the King and government in a position where in the future they can say, this is what we expect every time and indeed, if we have it in Britain, we should get it in America as well. There’s a lot of manipulation going on and it’s all quite unedifying.’

With this July trip, Eden suggested the Sussexes are cynically ‘using their children’ to reopen questions over their security in Britain. He said: ‘This trip is a big deal. It would be the first time they have been here together since the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022. It would only be the second time that Lilibet would have met her grandfather, the King. It does seem that they are using the children to put pressure on the King and for me, that’s really unedifying, I don’t like it at all.’

[From The Daily Mail]

A week ago, William pushed the “emotional blackmail” argument really hard, and now we’re getting “it’s a trap” and “it’s manipulation.” And all of it is just… Harry doing everything he can to safely bring his wife and children to see his family for a few days. These arguments make no sense because the person pushing these talking points (William) is a complete moron. “They are putting the King and government in a position where in the future they can say, this is what we expect every time and indeed, if we have it in Britain, we should get it in America as well….” Is Eden genuinely arguing that if the Sussexes get some police protection in the UK for a few days, they’ll demand the same thing in America? They already pay for their own private security in America! And when they’re in New York, the NYPD treats them like VIPs and attaches a police detail to their existing private security. That’s it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.