When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stepped down from their royal duties, there was a major debate as far as finances were concerned.
The Queen, Prince William, Prince Charles, and Prince Harry all met at Sandringham for a summit of sorts to discuss what would happen when Harry and Meghan decided to leave.
While the couple were hoping for a half-in, half-out approach, the Queen put a stop to that immediately, basically telling them they could not have their cake and eat it too.
One major aspect of the couple stepping back is who will pay for their security when they become private citizens.
The Canadian government has recently announced they were paying for a security team for the couple while they’re in Vancouver. However, when official duties stop for the Sussexes on March 31, that security will no longer be given.
Pubic Safety Canada made a statement on February 27, the end of which said, “At the request of the Metropolitan Police, the RCMP has been providing assistance to the Met since the arrival of the Duke and Duchess to Canada intermittently since November 2019. The assistance will cease in the coming weeks, in keeping with their change in status.”
Of course, this presents a certain challenge. The couple clearly need protecting due to their status, however with their “official” status changing to private citizens, they technically shouldn’t be allowed security funded by U.K. citizens.
Former royal protection officer Simon Morgan recently spoke to Us Weekly, saying, “You are looking at two global icons. You’re looking at a senior member of the British royal family. You’re looking at a war veteran who completed two operational tours of Afghanistan. The threat level against that particular individual is extremely high.”
He continued, “So, therefore when you put it all together and you look at the associated risks of being a member of the royal family — the terrorist threat around that, whether it be religious or political — the single issue causes that will also look to gain some form of advantage by possibly attacking those particularly in schools, and then the fixated threat, as well.”
Anger at the couple is increasing in the U.K. after Canada revealed they would not pay for security, meaning the entire bill would fall on British tax payers.
Phil Dampier, a royal expert, claims, “The public will be angry at having to pay for this when they’re not spending time in the UK or contributing to the royal family. The costs will become unsustainable – they will soon have to start paying for themselves.'”
The status of the Sussexes presents quite a conundrum, hence the great debate over whether or not they should pay for their own security.
The pair have claimed they want to be “financially independent,” yet they’ve made no claims that they will be paying for security themselves, something many feel is not right being that they will no longer be performing royal duties.
Many feel the taxpayer shouldn’t have to pay for the couple while they’re overseas, especially at an increased cost.
UKIP founder Alan Sked wrote on Twitter: “So Canada will no longer pay the security bill for Harry and Meghan. We should certainly pay to protect them while in the UK or while representing the Queen abroad. But if they want to be independent celebrities in North America, shouldn’t they pay for their own security there?”
His feelings were echoed by many. We’ll have to wait for further developments or statements to know what will happen.
