Princess Diana’s former personal protection officer has criticised Prince Harry’s legal bid for Scotland Yard to provide him with armed bodyguards when in the UK.
The Duke of Sussex is seeking a judicial review of Home Secretary Priti Patel’s decision to strip him of his police protection team, claiming it is too dangerous to visit the UK without Scotland Yard bodyguards.
But ex-Inspector Ken Wharfe, who also guarded Harry when he was a boy, said: “Scotland Yard’s police protection cannot be for sale.
“It doesn’t work like that, and he knows it... If he wants to, he is in a financial position to hire ex-personal protection officers who know the protocol and are security cleared to work in all the royal palaces.
“That is what Princess Beatrice and Eugenie do. The only difference is they are not licensed to carry a firearm.” The row erupted after it emerged that US-based Prince Harry’s lawyers wrote a “pre-action protocol” letter to the Home Office.
They indicated they will seek a judicial review on his behalf if police security is not provided by the UK. Harry insists he would cover the cost of protection, not the taxpayer.
