Chilling Kate security fears revealed

Kate, then the Duchess of Cambridge, was photographed pushing her own trolley while a specialist protection officer watched on. This was her new life and for the 5,529 days since then she has never stepped foot outside her front door without armed guards.

The need for such an extreme level of protection was made apparent in a Westminster courtroom last week, which heard an alleged royal stalker had been researching Kate along with looking up weapons and methods of killing.

This chilling claim in court came after the man was arrested and charged after allegedly chasing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor near his new home of Marsh Farm in Norfolk. The scene unfolded about 730pm on May 6 while the disgraced former royal was out walking his dogs; prosecutors allege the man, wearing a balaclava and camouflage clothing, pursued and shouted at the former Duke of York as he retreated to a car. Andrew had private security with him at the time.

After the man was detained by police, they found a wood-handled axe in his possession and a rock in his pocket. The court recently heard that when police went through his phone and internet history they discovered “searches on guns, knives, explosives, as well as on other members of the Royal family”, according to the Telegraph. Initially he was held under the Mental Health Act only to ‘attempt to abscond from hospital’ before being discharged.

Appearing in a Westminster court last week, the lawyer for Suffolk police warned that the man “could spiral out of control”. (The man, who has pleaded not guilty, will stand trial in July.)

While nothing was hurt aside from Andrew’s ego, this incident has been the biggest royal security scare in years and comes just weeks before the return of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their kids to the UK, propelling the issue of official protection squarely in the spotlight for authorities.

Harry has for years been saying the same thing – that without the return of the specialist Met police guards who shielded him from birth until the palace door slammed shut behind the Sussexes in 2020, it was not safe for him to bring his family back to the UK.

For the last six years Harry, since being de-platformed as royalty, has had to rely on paid, private security. (Unlike the duke, Andrew held onto his state security for three years after he similarly quit royal duties and only lost his automatic protection in 2022.)

When he travels, he does so with a team that usually includes two protection officers, his chief of staff and a communications secretary, the Telegraph has reported.

The question of whether this degree of protection is adequate is very much a live issue after it was revealed that a stalker has repeatedly been able to get within metres of the Duke of Sussex over the last year.

In October in London, a known stalker was able to hide in the toilet of a London hotel ahead of Harry attending a charity event there; a member of his team was forced to ‘body block’ her from getting to him.

In January, the same woman was able to sit just metres behind Harry on two occasions when he was at the High Court for his privacy case against the Daily Mail. https://

The woman, whom The Sun has reported is on a list of “fixated individuals” known to the Sussexes’ private security team, has also gone so far as to follow the couple to Nigeria in 2024.

n 2023’s Spare the duke wrote about having killed 25 members of the Taliban during his time serving on the frontline in Afghanistan. Admiral Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, said at the time that that year’s Invictus Games there would be “serious security issues.

“There will be people who, given half the chance, will want to do something.”

Meanwhile Meghan has faced “disgusting” threats against her life in the UK, according to Neil Basu, the former head of counter-terrorism policing in England. In 2022 he confirmed to the BBC that the duchess had faced threats from the far right, and that people had been prosecuted.

The toll of living like this was made apparent in the Sussexes’ 2022 Netflix series when Meghan broke down in tears talking about coming across a Tweet in their security team’s manual that read “Meghan just needs to die. Someone needs to kill her. Maybe it should be me”

The duchess went to describe that night “looking down my hallway, like, ‘Are we safe? Are the doors locked? Is security on? … Are my babies safe?’”

More broadly the data suggest a deeply troubling rise: Last year the Metropolitan Police’s Royalty and Specialist Protection team said they had identified almost 500 potential stalkers, including 35 who posed the highest level of risk, a rise from previous years, the Mirror reported.

So let’s circle back to Harry and his security battle. For years he has fought his way through the courts to appeal the 2020 decision made by Ravec, the body that governs official and royal protection, to strip the Sussexes of their Royalty and Specialist Protection unit bodyguards. Ravec’s argument seems to have been, if the duke and duchess were no longer official representatives of the crown they were no longer automatically entitled to 24/7 security; Harry’s argument has been, a legal representative said in 2022, that he “inherited a security risk at birth, for life.”

Since Megixt, Harry and his family have been offered a “bespoke” solution that requires them to provide the Met with 30 days notice of them returning to the UK and each visit has been assessed on a case-by-case basis. The extent of this “bespoke” offering, the Telegraph has reported, during Harry’s October visit was to be given the number for a liaison officer to call if needed.

Last year the Home Secretary granted Harry a review of the Ravec ruling, the results of which are still not known.

While no specifics have been revealed, multiple reports have confirmed that Charles has offered the Sussexes’ accommodation at a royal property during their July trip, which would mean the family could stay inside the security envelopes that encircle each of the King’s home and palaces.

At least some things don’t change. Earlier this year Kate and Prince William celebrated 15 years of marriage and the princess is still seen out shopping. Even future Queens sometimes need to duck out for a fresh loaf.

Daniela Elser is an editor and commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with Australia’s leading media titles.