Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are reportedly looking to return to the US if the UK Home Office refuses their request for police protection.
The Duke and Duchess have been involved in a long-standing battle for taxpayer-funded protection ever since they stepped down as senior royals in 2020 and the UK Home Office is still conducting a review into whether the couple are entitled to security.
Royal experts have now claimed the Sussexes are planning to leave the UK if they don’t receive the answer they’re hoping for, arguing their stance could be seen as a way of “blackmailing” King Charles after he released guidance branding the couple “private citizens”.
Friends of the couple have reportedly revealed Harry and Meghan’s plan to pull Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet out of their school and return to their Montecito home in California if the review refuses them automatic police protection.
Royal commentator Richard Eden discussed this reported ultimatum on the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential podcast, describing it as “akin to blackmail”.
“The implications of this are massive because if they get it, what that then means is Harry and Meghan can come and go, and they’ll still be getting police protection, and also they can say that they want it in America,” he said.
“So those hard-pressed taxpayers in the US might find that they’re having to pay for security too. So it could ease any money worries that they have. Harry and Meghan would be absolutely thrilled. They’d have these huge costs paid for by someone else.”
It comes as police investigate a security scare at Archie and Lilibet’s new school after two mystery men were spotted “surveilling” the grounds.
The men, believed to be international paparazzi photographers, were reportedly seen carrying backpacks near the school.
ITV’s royal editor Chris Ship reported on Wednesday morning the two men had been spotted in a white van with the vehicle’s registration details passed to local police who established it was a rental van.
Officers are understood to have traced the driver’s licence used to hire the vehicle to an international photographer.
One insider alleged the pair had been “doing reconnaissance” on the school “for a number of hours” using the white van.
The latest development is understood to have been referred to the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC), the Home Office body responsible for determining police protection arrangements for members of the Royal Family and other high-profile individuals.
Harry and Meghan lost their right to taxpayer-funded police protection when they stepped down as senior royals.
Under their current arrangements, the Sussexes have reportedly been provided with the contact details of a police liaison officer.