Prince Harry was told he can’t ‘hire’ police because he doesn’t need protecting?

I honestly can’t understand what kind of unhinged argument “commentators” are trying to make about Prince Harry and his desire to pay for his own security in the UK. Part of me thinks that the British media is just vamping, making sh-t up on the fly about “why Harry is terrible” because they weren’t expecting him to issue his statement over the weekend, correcting their false reporting. They can’t argue that “Harry needs to pay for his own security” anymore because he’s made it clear he wants to pay for his own security. So the new argument is that Harry is awful because he wants to pay for the police security for himself and his family and… like, how dare he? Because how dare he believe himself to be a legitimate target of terrorists and violent white supremacists, even though he demonstrably is a target?

Prince Harry ‘cannot pick and choose’ when he wants to visit the UK and receive protection, a former head of royal protection has warned. The Duke of Sussex should not be expecting bodyguards supplied to him when he decides to return home, Dai Davies said.

It comes as sources suggested the Queen will not help her grandson in his demand for security personnel when he comes to Britain. The insiders claimed the Monarch has no intentions of ‘caving into his demands’ for protection from the Met and Home Office.

Prince Harry faced outrage yesterday over his threat of legal action against Her Majesty’s Government. He is seeking a judicial review of the decision to strip him of his UK police protection team, claiming it is too dangerous to visit without Scotland Yard bodyguards. Last night there was anger at the unprecedented legal threat against the government as sources hit back saying: ‘Scotland Yard is not available for hire’.

Mr Davies, who was Operational Unit Commander for the Royals from 1995, told GMB: ‘He chose to go to America, that’s his prerogative. And it’s our prerogative to ensure when we look at any aspect of protection, any member of the Royal Family that we actually look and assess it through various security agencies. That’s the crux. And it’s been decided in this level, one they won’t supply him with protection because the risk at this stage is deemed low. However should there be a risk when he comes then clearly the Metropolitan Police would be duty bound.’

He went on: ‘Clearly it has been reviewed in the same way as so many other royal security have been done. Princess Anne for instance, his aunt, she doesn’t get full time protection we’re told now and yet arguably in 1974 she was nearly kidnapped and/or murdered. Her protection officer was shot. However, with regards to Harry, he can’t pick and choose when he wants to come. There has never been a precedent where somebody pays for their security in this country. If it’s required, it will be provided.’

[From The Daily Mail]

So now they’re mad at Harry because Scotland Yard doesn’t have enough personnel? Or they’re mad because Harry would expect security for himself and his family and he would tell them in advance when he’s coming and they still wouldn’t have enough people to protect him? Again, I don’t understand what the British protection “sources” are even arguing. If their argument is “if we give it to Harry, regular old celebrities might expect to pay for their own police protection too!” And?? If a private citizen is facing an elevated threat from white nationalists or Islamic terrorists or whatever, surely the police SHOULD protect them? And if the private citizen wants to pay the police back, isn’t that the best solution?

Part of me is terrified that the real argument is that Harry doesn’t “deserve” protection because in their half-assed assessment, no one is threatening him. Nevermind that the same people have continuously put a target on Harry’s back for years. Anyway, I hope Harry never goes back.

Photos courtesy of Instar, Avalon Red, Backgrid.