Prince Harry pal steps up for his and Meghan’s security in UK
Prince Harry’s pal has stepped up for him.
As Harry plans on bringing his wife, Meghan, back to the UK for the first time in four years, one of the prince’s best friends has piled more pressure on the Government to restore the couple’s security.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were stripped of automatic taxpayer-funded police protection on their visits to Britain after they chose to quit royal duties and move to America in 2020.
Additionally, last year, King Charles’ younger son lost a legal battle with the Home Office to have it reinstated.
However, his request to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, for a full risk assessment to be carried out was granted last December.
The committee which is expected to make the final decision on the level of police protection was supposed to meet in January to discuss the reinstatement.
Alex Rayner, who went to the North Pole with Harry on a charity trek in 2012 and is in regular contact with him, suggests the two tours of duty that the duke served in Afghanistan during his ten-year Army career makes him particularly vulnerable.
In an apparent reference to the King’s protection of his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on his private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, Rayner told Daily Mail, “Harry is a royal who’s significantly served in the Armed Forces.”
“To ask him to pay for it privately feels a tiny bit spiteful, given that there are other members of the Royal Family who receive it who do far less.”
Harry served in war-torn Afghanistan as a forward air controller and later as an Apache helicopter pilot.
Next year, the Invictus Games, which he created to help injured and sick former soldiers, will be held here and Harry hopes Meghan will accompany him to an event this July to promote it.
“This guy was flying Apaches in a conflict and we’ve got the Invictus Games coming up in Birmingham,” says Rayner, who was educated at Harry’s alma mater Eton College. “Are we not supporting him for that?” he questioned.