Security is a concern for any public figure, and that includes the members of the royal family. Last month, during his trip to the U.K., Prince Harry reportedly had some issues in that department.
A stalker who is “fixated” on Harry was reportedly able to get concerningly close to the royal not just once, but twice during the Duke of Sussex’s visit to the U.K. in September, the Daily Mail reports.
According to the outlet, the stalker, a woman who was already known to be “fixated” on Harry, managed to “pass within feet of him” on more than one occasion during the trip, first on Sept. 9, when she was allowed to enter a “secure zone” at the central London hotel Harry was at for the WellChild Awards, and again two days later, when a member of Harry’s private staff intercepted her at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in west London.
Apparently, the woman was already on a list of “individuals known to be obsessed with the royal” that Harry’s personal security team hired a private intelligence firm to compile.
The Daily Mail shared video footage in which the alleged stalker can be seen near Harry’s car. The outlet reports that her mental health status is unknown and that her history of stalking Harry includes reportedly traveling around the globe to follow the royal. She’s even said to have traveled to Nigeria in May 2024, when Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, took a three-day trip to the country.
The reports of Harry’s close calls with the stalker have reignited discussions related to security for him and the rest of the Sussex family in the U.K., where they are not currently provided protection, as a general rule.
Harry and Meghan were forced to give up their taxpayer-funded police protection in 2020, when they announced their decision to step back from their duties as working royals and move to North America.
While Harry has fought the decision, which was made by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) to revoke his and Meghan’s automatic state-backed security in the U.K., the courts have repeatedly ruled against him.
Even though Harry isn’t entitled to automatic state-backed security while in the U.K., the Daily Mail reported that the Metropolitan Police did actually provide him with personal security during a specific day of his recent trip. Sources told the out that senior officers in the Metropolitan Police “acted on their own initiative” to offer him protection while he was in London for the WellChild Awards.
Metropolitan Police reportedly offered Harry security for the Sept. 8 awards ceremony, primarily because many children would be present at the highly-publicized event.
This kind of security isn’t something Harry is guaranteed, however, and according to the Daily Mail report, there was no police presence at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies when the stalker was intercepted during Harry’s visit there on Sept. 11.
Harry has repeatedly cited security concerns as his primary reason for not bringing his wife and children with him on visits to the U.K., in spite of his desire for his children to spend time in his homeland.
In May, following his latest loss in his legal battle to reinstate his automatic police protection, he told BBC News that he couldn’t “see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point.”
“They’re going to miss, well, everything,” Harry added. “I love my country. I always have done. Despite what some people in that country have done.”
In its coverage of his recent issues with the known stalker, the Daily Mail reported that a friend of Harry’s said that the royal feels “enormous guilt” about the way that his status can put those around him in danger.
“It should not be left to two office staff to act as extra eyes and ears or provide a physical barrier,” the friend in question said. “That should not happen. It is only going to take one motivated, lone individual for this to go south very quickly.”
While the courts in the U.K. have consistently ruled against Harry in his fight to reinstate automatic police protection for him and his family, many experts argue that’s a mistake.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Neil Basu, the former head of the UK’s counter-terrorism police, argued that Harry’s profile has only risen in the years since he stepped down from his duties as a working royal and that the Duke’s recent stalker issues are a perfect example of the most viable threat posed to the royals: an individual fixated on a specific figure.
“There’s even a specialist team set up within New Scotland Yard to deal with fixated threat assessments, because there were so many—normally the head of state by a country mile, more than anybody else – but nevertheless, certainly other members of the Royal family,” Basu explained. “And it is the hardest thing to guard against.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.marieclaire.com ’
