Fears for Harry and Meghan as violence flares in Morocco
SECURITY services are demanding extra help to protect the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Morocco after violence rocked the country’s capital yesterday.
Prince Harry and heavilypregnant Meghan are due to land in Rabat tonight, days after police were seen beating demonstrators with truncheons and firing water cannon.
Tens of thousands of campaigners have taken to the streets in support of teachers angry at new job contracts which, they claim, deny them decent pay and access to healthcare.
Harry and Meghan’s protection team has drawn up “exit plans” to get the royals out of harm’s way – or out of the country – should there be a repeat of Wednesday’s ugly scenes in Rabat. And it is understood officers have convinced the couple to scrap a royal walkabout.
Meghan’s global popularity as a former actress and fashion icon was evident as she spent several days in New York with close friends who threw a baby shower.
She is expecting the couple’s first child in late April or early May and this has added to concerns over how best to protect her.
A royal source said: “The decision was taken to not include a walkabout in Morocco over fears for the Duke and Duchess’s safety.
“Both Meghan and Harry draw huge crowds wherever they go and they have a real propensity to get in among the crowds, interacting with them, getting very close.
“Due to the nature of the ongoing protests across the country this was strongly advised against, which they both understood.
“Reports from the country
BRAVE PRINCE OF WALES TAKES SIDES FOR KEY RUGBY CLASH...
CHARLES is not afraid to take sides as Prince of Wales when it comes to rugby union.
In South Wales ahead of today’s Six Nations clash between Wales and England, he said: “I just wanted to say I hope, I hope, that Wales manages to win the match.”
Charles, 70, got the chance to play with some remotecontrolled model cars when he visited Ysgol Cwm Brombil school in Port Talbot.
And Charles officially opened the Rock UK Summit Centre in Treharris, built on an old mine. He said: “As I’ve got to the age I am, I’ve rather lost the head for heights and I’m very glad I didn’t attempt the impossible on one of these walls.”
The complex, with 60ft climbing walls, is used by the Armed Forces and his charity The Prince’s Trust. suggest protests have themselves been peaceful, but police reaction has been heavy handed, which has thrown up obvious concerns that tensions could flare up if repeated during the royal visit.”
The insider added that royal protection chiefs had “sought strong assurances security will be bolstered” during the visit.
Security sources confirmed MI6 requested an intelligence report from Moroccan authorities, which was passed to the head of the Metropolitan Police royalty and specialist protection unit.
The huge protests took place eight years after the birth of the Moroccan Arab Spring movement that sparked activism across North Africa.
UK protection officers have held a series of emergency conferences with their Moroccan counterparts this week to assess the situation, it has been revealed.
Harry and Meghan will hail advancements in Moroccan women’s education and visit several projects tomorrow and on Monday.
They will fly by helicopter to the town of Asni in the Atlas Mountains tomorrow.
The couple will see a scheme that builds boarding houses for rural girls aged 12 to 18, to ensure they can have a secondary education. But the town is just 10 miles from Imlil, in the foothills of Mount Toubkal where two women, Danish national Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and Maren Ueland, a 28-year-old Norwegian, were found decapitated in December.
Moroccan authorities called the killing a “terrorist” act and have charged more than 20 people over the deaths.