Today would have been Princess Diana’s 65th birthday. Today is also the tenth anniversary of Prince Harry and then-Meghan Markle’s first conversation. They would later have their first two dates at Soho House as Meghan was in London to watch Wimbledon. Currently, Harry and Meghan are enjoying a family vacation somewhere in Europe, possibly at their multi-million-dollar Portuguese villa. Some have suggested that they could also be staying at Elton John’s French Riviera villa. I think Portugal is more likely, but they have tons of wealthy friends with European vacation homes, so who knows.

The original plan for the Sussexes was almost definitely to base themselves somewhere outside of the UK, then spend a careful week in the UK with the children. The original agenda involved spending time at Althorp with the Spencer family, several days in Birmingham for the Invictus One Year to Go events, and then some charity events in London. At some point, the family was supposed to spend time with King Charles and it’s now clear that Charles offered the Sussexes some royal residence (and Charles made sure to brief that to every outlet). What’s not clear is what verbal or written guarantees of security Harry might have been given for months beforehand. He behaved like he believed that some security would be granted, especially for the Invictus events. RAVEC waited to inform him last Friday that he would receive zero police protection for the entire trip. GB News had an honest breakdown of exactly what this is:

Whether Prince Harry and his family should, or should not, get taxpayer-funded police protection when they are in the United Kingdom is a deeply polarising question. The Duke of Sussex’s first priority is keeping himself and his family safe, and he is still furious a Home Office committee downgraded his security level when he stood back as a working member of the Royal Family in 2020. Many have asked me what security The Prince actually gets in the United Kingdom. The answer? A phone number for a police liaison officer, with many more digits than the country’s quick 999 emergency call system.

Apart from his own private bodyguards, who are legally banned from carrying firearms and do not have access to police or secret intelligence, the King’s second son and his family have limited protection. No specialist vehicle escort, personal protection officers, reinforced barriers, or snipers on rooftops. Sometimes, local police forces have taken pity on the Prince and provided a small amount of support out of their own budgets.

Yet, around-the-clock armed police protection costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds each year, which six years ago was deemed disproportionate for a former working royal. The Duke of Sussex lost a High Court appeal to overturn this decision. He had also offered to pay for his own police protection, but a judge declared police were ‘not for sale’ – ruling wealthy individuals should not have the right to hire officers for their own personal protection.

Last November, the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) decided an independent Risk Management Board (RMB) should take place to conduct an objective assessment of Prince Harry’s current threat level and vulnerability.

The RMB would then make recommendations to RAVEC about the appropriate and bespoke package of protective security needed to protect Prince Harry and his family.

Despite The Duke’s office being told the RMB was happening in March, it is understood they only found out on Friday that all assessments had been “paused” without explanation, and RAVEC had therefore not updated their stance on Prince Harry’s security situation.

The Home Office declined to comment on specifics, but told the People’s Channel: “The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”

[From GB News]

People like Tom Sykes and Tina Brown have been screaming that Harry “knew” he didn’t have police protection when he planned the visit, but this timeline indicates that Harry was told in MARCH that the risk assessment would finally be done. Harry probably naively believed that he could take them at their word and that by July, the risk assessment would find that his family needs security and everything would work out. Harry was blind-sided not only by RAVEC telling him that there would be zero security, but that the risk-assessment had been paused months beforehand and he had never been notified about it. As Robert Jobson said this week, this is the noise of a divided crown – did King Charles know that the risk assessment had been paused? Did Prince William know? They both have courtiers on RAVEC, so they both should have known months ago. At best, Charles and/or William were sowing chaos. At worst, this is really feeling like a complete trap for the Sussexes.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.