Prince Andrew to keep $380K-a-year taxpayer-funded guards after he lobbies Queen to prevent security downgrade
Prince Andrew has been permitted to keep his $379,965 (£300,000-a-year) bodyguards thanks to Queen Elizabeth's intervention. It was reported that Andrew's security team was supposed to be let go last Monday, June 1, when the Queen allegedly told her aides to forgo the decision. The disgraced Duke of York was made to step back from performing royal duties over his association and friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
His security team of three costs approximately $126,655 (£100,000-a-year) which includes their wages, flights, perks, and hotels, the Sun reveals. The cuts were also said to affect Princess Anne and Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex until the Queen intervened. "The Queen’s children all lobbied her but Andrew has been the most persuasive. She has made it clear that she was not happy with the proposal. It has been stopped and will be reviewed over the next few weeks," a royal source revealed.
Sources have estimated total Royal Family security costs, taxpayers, over $126M (£100) million per year. Anti-monarchy group Republic member, Graham Smith, shared, "If Andrew is not performing public duties, there is no reason to employ security. He can privately pay for any security he wants. If the Home Office and police have looked at the risk and judged that he does not warrant round-the-clock security then it is appropriate. To have another look at it due to pressure from the Queen is unacceptable."
In January this year, Daily Mail reported that the Home Office was set to recommend a downgrade of his security amid concerns of the costs involved of round the clock bodyguards. Sources said: "Bosses 'cannot write a blank cheque for anyone who does not have a public role in the foreseeable future'."
The talk about these recommendations comes as the cost of royal security became a topic of discussion after Prince Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping down as senior royals which sparked concern over who would pay for their security detail as they moved from the UK to Canada and now while they try to settle in Los Angeles in USA.
The royal family has been mum about the downgrade in Prince Andrew's security detail, with a spokesman for the family saying: "We never comment on matters of security or provide guidance. Public-funded security policy remains a matter for the well-established independent processes that decide these matters."
The Duke of York had been forced to step back from public life last year after getting candid on his friendship with Epstein while doing an interview with Newsnight. According to sources, the Queen who had stripped Andrew of his royal title, "can't see a way back" for her son, The Sunday Times revealed. It had been reported that Prince Andrew had been hoping to make a comeback to royal life but sources have described his presence as "toxic". It is said that the royal family now has "no plans to review" his position.
The Duke of York had also been accused by Virginia Roberts Giuffre of sleeping with her when she was an underage teenager. She had opened up on what their first time in bed was like and had recalled it being quick and disgusting earlier this year. Giuffre who had done an interview with BBC said, "It didn’t last very long. The whole thing, procedure — it was disgusting. He wasn’t mean or anything. He got up and said thanks and walked out. I sat there in bed and felt ashamed and dirty."
"I just didn’t expect it from royalty. I didn’t expect it from someone people look up to and admire in the royal family." As a result of his association with Epstein, the Queen stripped him of his $322,000 (£249,000) Sovereign Grant allowance. Prince Andrew is eighth in line to the throne and it is highly unlikely that he will ever perform royal duties again.