They’re stretching an already pressed force
IN THEIR current state, these plans are wholly unworkable.
Round-the-clock security needed, over multiple locations and a couple making plans on the hoof – with a shortage of officers in the UK, let alone catering for a couple who chose to move abroad.
A complete reconstruction of how royalty protection overseas works is required and it appears no consideration has been given to the welfare of the officers.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex need a team of five or six speciallytrained police at a minimum, which is then easily doubled under the current state of their plans to be in multiple locations separately.
You need adequate back-up and all kinds of support that would normally be readily available in London or the UK but not on an island in Canada or travelling around the United States.
The system is not steady or consistent and unlike normal royals, where you have a planned programme, these two are jumping all over the place so, if they then decide to split themselves, you have a three-way split which adds even more issues regarding how large the core team is.
You need to be able to work around the plans of the couple and Archie, especially if he is ever left in a different location.
You then have to consider the officers who go with the couple, or indeed individually, depending on where they are, which will incur further costs.
The officers will normally have had to recce the locations before they arrive, further mounting up the travel and hours.
There are so many imponderables it is a very, very complex situation.
If Harry and Meghan want to carry out their meetings in secret, then you can have teams as low as two officers but this couple are consistently high-profile, if they are spotted they get mobbed by photographers in the US. They add the X Factor themselves.
The only thing you can predict is that the cost will go up and up.
A major factor which isn’t being considered is the strain on officers, constantly going from one place to another, and the uncertainty when they are having plans changed on them at the last minute.
This is what a lot of famous people demand of their security without the boundaries of the royal household giving them structure.
What is wholly clear is that somebody needs to get a grip on the situation.
Professionally, I am very worried for my former colleagues but otherwise, reading between the lines, it seems Harry and Meghan’s muddled and naive thinking is affecting a lot more people than they care to realise.