King Charles III may foot the bill for his brother, Prince Andrew's private security after failing to do the same for his son, Prince Harry. His Majesty will reportedly remove the Duke of York's taxpayer-funded Metropolitan Police protection but will likely give him personal protection instead.
Prince Harry has requested his father to provide him and his family protection after they left the royal family but to no avail. After refusing his youngest son's alleged request, it looks like King Charles is willing to do it for Prince Andrew.
Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice's father resigned from public roles in 2020 after being involved in a huge controversy due to his association with the criminal sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has then led a private life with the continuous protection of public-funded bodyguards worth £3 million a year.
Now, Queen Elizabeth II is gone and has been replaced by her heir apparent. King Charles has reportedly decided to cut back his brother's public funding-nearly a year after their mother stripped off his honorary military affiliations and royal charitable patronages.
That said, The Sun on Sunday claimed the monarch might personally pay for his sibling's protection, though they could only carry tasers.
As a royal, Prince Andrew is still entitled to have bodyguards from Protection Command, the Metropolitan police's specialist arm. They're usually officers in plainclothes with permission to carry firearms, escorting royals in public.
Alternatively, private security officers may come from different firms and can't carry guns. They can only bring tasers to defend their clients.
Sure, Prince Andrew is still royal. But he returned his military and royal patronages to Queen Elizabeth earlier this year before having an out-of-court settlement with his alleged sexual abuse victim, Virginia Giuffre.
Former Home Office minister Norman Baker told The Sun it had been a status symbol to have armed security protection for the likes of Prince Andrew. But now that he's a private individual with no royal duties, he should personally pay for his security.
There should also be transparency in the arrangement, like revealing who will pay his security and how much it will cost. However, an insider believed taxpayers would still end up paying for it "indirectly."
Express added Prince Andrew hadn't declared public income, and Buckingham Palace has yet to comment on the claims that King Charles will pay for it.
This comes on the heels of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's revelation on their Netflix docuseries, "Harry & Meghan," that their security was withdrawn before they left for Canada, making them feel in huge danger and exposed.
