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A former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent has said
Prince Harry’s
request for royal protection for him and his family while they are in the UK would ‘create a precedent’.
Dai Davies, who has worked in policing and security for more than 53 years, told
The Andrew Pierce Show on Mail+
that he had ‘never heard of’ such measures being implemented.
The former royal protection officer said the Duke of Sussex’s clear break with the Royal Family and his duties made such a request nonsensical.
He added: ‘He [Prince Harry] decided that he didn’t want to be any part of the Royal Family, he made some dreadful remarks in that interview [with Oprah Winfrey] and his behaviour since has been, in my opinion, disgraceful, along with his good wife.
‘If they want to be royals and they want to carry on doing royal business, then yes, if there is a risk, but over the years, royalty protection and the Home Office and others have got reasonably good at making sure that the risk assessment is carried out thoroughly, in conjunction with the other security agents dictated [by the] threat assessment centre.
‘There’s nothing new in the police and the security system carrying out a proper survey, and he [Harry] knows that in one sense, but they [Harry and Meghan] both have such egos that they expect the treatment.’
Discussing his experience of policing is Los Angeles, where the Sussexes live, Mr Davies said: ‘I worked in California in an investigation for the Sunday Times years ago and it’s hugely dangerous in parts of LA.
‘So I would suggest for him to concentrate on where he’s living now and worry about where he’s living now, because frankly, historically, attacks on the royals in this country are remarkably low, although it’s not to say that it doesn’t happen.
‘And so for him [Harry] to suddenly pick up the reins and say, “I want it because I was chased by a photographer” is nonsensical.’
Asked whether royal guards would ‘turn a blind eye’ to an attempted attack, Mr Davies said: ‘Of course not. If he stays in any royal palaces, they are protected 24/7 by armed officers.
‘The fact is, many senior royals are losing their protection. Once you become a plain member of the public like the rest of us, unless there is a serious risk, neither the police nor Scotland Yard will take action.
‘At the moment, it is considered that there isn’t a risk, and so they’re not going to take officers away from other royals or other duties to protect him when he decides to be a royal again.
Asked to estimate the cost of his family’s protection to taxpayers, Mr Davies said: ‘The truth is, I don’t know. Every visit, every movement, is calculated but, in truth, it costs a lot of money.’
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