When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle vacated Canada, they also left Canadian taxpayers to foot the bill of £30,000 for their security. The country's advocacy group revealed the amount that its citizens had to pay after the Sussexes' stay.
Canada earlier announced that it would no longer pay for their security costs when they officially stepped down as senior royals. However, they were still left with a huge bill that it had to cover.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed a statement, along with a tally and an "information request to authorities." According to The Sun, in the documents obtained by the group, it showed that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) spent over $50,000 for the couple's security costs.
Aaron Wudrick, the campaign group's federal director, added that the Trudeau government did not even let the taxpayers know that they were "on the hook" for the pair's "security costs." Now, they knew that the answer to their question was "yes," and it was worth about $50,000.
In the document, the bill was totaled "$56,384 as of January 22, 2020," excluding salaries or costs after the noted date. It also did not show the officers on duty's salaries, but only the "overtime, travel, meals, incidentals, and accommodation" costs, Fox News noted.
Now, the RCMP expressed "concern" over the media scrutiny of the bill. The federation also included a quote, which said to be from an email exchange between Bernadine Chapman, Commanding Officer of RCMP's national division, and police colleagues. It said that the media was eager to know Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's security bill.
So, there would surely be a lot of coverages "of the potential of the royals to spend half their time in Canada as a couple." It also noted that they would be having a big conversation about the matter as it might cost them "huge."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's security costs had been a hot topic when they moved to Canada. After they announced their decision to step down as senior royals, they chose to stay in the Great White North.
In January, over 80,000 Canadians signed an online petition, demanding the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to pay for their own security bill when they started living there. Hence, in March, the country announced it would no longer shoulder their security costs when they were not working senior royals anymore.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told CBC that since the two were "Internationally Protected Persons" for being members of the Royal Family, the government was "obliged" to provide them security "as needed." The issue about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did not end in Canada. After they moved to Los Angeles, President Donald Trump welcomed them by tweeting that the United States would never "foot the bill to keep them safe."
