PRINCE Harry should “start seeing things as they really are” and stop using the “excuse” of security issues, royal commentators claim.
Queen Elizabeth II’s former police officer Dick Griffin and veteran photographer Arthur Edwards appeared on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive programme, giving their opinions on the latest news.
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Prince Harry and Meghan arrive for an exhibition sitting volleyball match at Nigeria Unconquered in Abuja on May 11, 2024Credit: AFP
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Dick Griffin and Arthur Edwards appeared on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive programmeCredit: The Sun/Royal Exclusive
They offered their thoughts on security issues surrounding the Duke of Sussex, who lost the right to close protection after stepping back as a working royal.
He also lost a High Court challenge against a ruling it was legal – but is set to appeal.
Speaking about Harry’s legal battle to get round-the-clock protection in the UK, Mr Griffin said he was not sure why the prince thinks he should get special treatment.
He said: “If he was coming back to take over a full Royal Family life he would automatically get it anyway, and the government are not silly.
“If they review every visit to this country and they know all the threat assessments, and if they think – whoever it is, it could be you or Harry – if he needs protection, he’ll be given protection.”
He added: “If he’s that worried about security, he could’ve stuck – as it happens his father, [King] Charles, who has got the best security in the land.
“I think it was just an excuse.”
Mr Edwards agreed, adding: “He’s got to start seeing things as they really are and he’s no longer welcome here, it just seems and he’s going to have to make a big big act of contrition to the King before he gets back.
“Because quite honestly, they’re frightened to have him with them because any conversation they may have could be in the next TV programme.
“They’re not prepared to do that anymore.”
It was announced in January 2020 that Harry and wife Meghan would be stepping back as working royals, in a decision dubbed ‘Megxit’ by The Sun.
Two months later the pair carried out their last official engagement and moved to California.
Harry is understood to have not seen his father since a brief meeting on February 6 this year, days after Charles was diagnosed with cancer.
Mr Griffin said: “The Princess Royal’s children don’t get protection and look at their life.
Peter and Zara live perfectly wonderful lives. They’re in the public eye but there’s no perceived threat to them and they don’t – Princess Anne doesn’t ask for them to get protection.”
Mr Edwards added: “Or Beatrice and Eugenie, they don’t get police protection either.”
He also said that he believes what upsets King Charles is that he will “never get to see his grandchildren, who “should be playing with their cousins at Balmoral now”.
While Mr Edwards and Mr Griffin took a negative view of Harry’s desire for round-the-clock security, others have offered different opinions.
In 2022, Neil Basu, the former head of counterterrorism for the Metropolitan Police, said there were genuine threats to the Duchess of Sussex’s life while she lived in Britain.
He said: “We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats.”
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Prince Harry meets members of the public as he departs The Invictus Games Foundation 10th Anniversary Service at St Paul’s Cathedral on May 8Credit: Getty
