Eugenie wedding will cost taxpayer £2m
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TAXPAYERS will pick up a £2million security bill for Princess Eugenie’s wedding.
Expenses for the minor royal’s big day have more than doubled amid increased terror fears since she announced her engagement in January, sources say.
Extra firearms officers may have to be drafted in when the ninth in line to the throne weds tequila brand ambassador Jack Brooksbank on October 12.
Eugenie, 28, who carries out no royal duties, has nevertheless chosen to marry at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle where Prince Harry wed Meghan in May.
Dad Prince Andrew was said to have demanded a similarly glitzy event for his younger daughter with Sarah Ferguson.
A royal source said: “The Duke of York has insisted his daughter’s wedding must be a huge occasion to be remembered and wants everyone to get on board to celebrate the happy couple.”
Despite warnings about the extra security issues it would cause, Eugenie and Jack are determined to enjoy all the pomp of an open-top carriage procession down Windsor High Street.
It means dozens of officers must be deployed to search the route in advance.
Drones will also be banned from flying over the castle for the whole weekend.
The same tactics were employed for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – but Eugenie’s wedding was initially set to cost about £750,000.
The increased expenses are due to officers’ overtime, cancellation of holidays and the need for extra patrols.
Emma Dent Coad, Labour MP for Kensington – where Eugenie and Jack live in Kensington Palace at a vastly reduced rent – slammed their plans.
She said: “In these times of heightened security risks, it is irresponsible for a minor member of the royal family to have a high-profile, very public wedding.
“This may be the time to review the role and cost of minor royals.” Eugenie and sister Beatrice, 30, said this month they just want to be seen as “real”.
But Chris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North, said last night: “It really is an outrage when you’ve got people
sleeping rough and gripped by poverty that people are indulging in this conspicuous consumption.
“They are as far as it’s possible to be from being real normal people. No one else gets their wedding paid for by the public purse and they’ve got the resources to do it themselves.”
Police sources say there is no intelligence of any threat or sign of any serious anti-monarchy protests but nothing will be left to chance. The huge security operation will be managed by the Met, Thames Valley and British Transport Police.
But amid heightened terror fears in London after this week’s Westminster attack, other forces are understood to have been asked to potentially help out as other teams are needed in the capital.
Eugenie and Jack, 32 – who is UK representative for George Clooney’s tequila brand Casamigos – will host 300 guests including dozens of celebrities such as Clooney and his lawyer wife Amal, who were at Harry’s wedding too.
Model Cara Delevingne, actress Suki Waterhouse and supermodels Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford could also attend, alongside singers James Blunt and Ellie Goulding, and pop star Robbie Williams and wife Ayda Field, whose daughter Theodora Rose will be a flower girl.
Beatrice will be maid of honour and Prince William’s children George, five, and Charlotte, three, are expected to be a page boy and flower girl.
Invitations have also been extended to 1200 members of the public who will watch the event outside via a live feed.
Eugenie’s cousin Zara, also one of the Queen’s grandchildren, wed ex-England rugby captain Mike Tindall in a small ceremony in Edinburgh in 2011.
Jack’s and Eugenie’s parents will pay for the wedding and reception. A royal spokesman said: “Costs for security will be shared by individual police forces and the local council but all other costs for the wedding will be met privately.”