Prince Harry and Meghan face increased threat from paparazzi and Taliban post Megxit, says former royal bodyguard
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly always faced threats as members of the royal family, and now with severing royal ties, those threats are only going to increase, according to Dai Davis, the former operational commander of royal protection.
On January 8, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had announced that they would step back as senior members of the royal family and work to become financially independent. This move could see the couple splitting their time between the UK and Canada.
Davis, in an article in the Daily Mail, stated that the duo has faced "complex and serious threats – from terrorists, criminal gangs, obsessed stalkers, unlicensed paparazzi and even from those they believed to be friends." The former royal protection head explained now that the couple has planned to live outside Britain, the threats against them are also going to become more difficult to guard against.
"Final decisions on how they will be protected – and who will pay – have yet to be agreed," Davis wrote. "But as former operational commander of royalty protection and senior Met police officer, I am seriously concerned for their immediate safety."
Davis added that Charles and Diana's divorce in the mid-nineties had created significant safety issues for the latter. He wrote that Diana "loved to act spontaneously," which made it nearly impossible for him to assure her protection. She also declined police protection through the royal family, and Davis believes that this is what "may have cost the princess her life."
"I am convinced that Harry and Meghan face dangers just as grave, yet by moving abroad they are making it even harder to set up effective protection. Whatever security the Sussexes have in place at their borrowed home on Vancouver Island, I cannot imagine it is adequate. It has been alleged that some of their protection officers are armed only with Tasers. If true, that is preposterous," the former royal protection head wrote. "Any plot to assassinate or kidnap Harry's family will involve weaponry far more lethal than Tasers, and his team needs to be carrying firearms at all times," he added.
"In the UK, royal personal protection officers carry guns as a matter of course but, once abroad, can only be armed with the permission of local authorities under a 'reciprocity' arrangement."
Davis lamented that if the Sussexes eventually come to rely on private security companies, the couple will not be provided the kind of strong support his department did for Harry's parents. He added that Harry and Meghan's security has already been compromised because their location in Canada has already been leaked.
"As a veteran of the Afghan campaign, Prince Harry is at risk: the Taliban always regarded him as their main target. Their desire to hurt him has not diminished because he has stepped down as the Captain General of the Royal Marines, who were at the forefront of the Afghan fighting... Equally worrying are the number of obsessive individuals who might mean the couple harm. Racist, far-Right groups could target Meghan, for instance. It only takes one deranged individual," Davis wrote, adding that the couple's world has now become a more dangerous place for them.