I could see India not wanting to allow residence in any capacity except as private citizen to a Mountbatten-Windsor .
If such an appointment were made it would be an appointment by the UK government and
In Australia, as in Canada etc, the vice-regal appointments of Governor General or State Governor is done on the advice of prime minister or the relevant state premier and
If the Mountbatten-Windsors have acted to “overthrow a recalcitrant local regime” in any Commonwealth country, I’d like a cite.
Viceroys have never been appointed on the monarch’s own initiative; prior to the 1930s they were appointed on the British Prime Minister’s advice, afterward the relevant dominion/realm’s Prime Minister’s advice. And it’s now several decades past the point where a member of the royal family being appointed Governor-General (of Canada or anywhere else) is remotely plausible. And even if it was it would be the exact opposite of what the Sussexes want for their lives.
This Huffington Post article discusses the question in much detail: Prince Harry Might Get Canadian Residency Or Citizenship Through Meghan Markle | HuffPost News
It provides expert opinions. The answer it gives isn’t straightforward as it depends on various contingencies but very much in brief, it surmises that Harry’s being part of the Royal Family would probably not give him a substantial advantage and that, in fact, Meghan would probably be bringing more qualifications to their eligibility for immigration to Canada than he would.
Analyses by the Independent and the New York Times say much the same thing. It is suggested that it would be more expedient for them to stay in Canada as visitors (dividing their time between there and England), although it would mean they couldn’t legally work there and their “financial independence” would have to come from a source outside Canada.
Surely you see that all actually adds up to an unforgivable slap in the face of the royal family, don’t you? Staying in Canada at least symbolically says they aren’t trashing the whole thing.
This is basically it, completely apart from any royalty considerations, Harry alone is estimated to have a net worth north of £50M. Many countries, Canada, UK, Oz, etc, have their ‘rich bastard’ visas. If you have the cash you get the welcome mat rolled out.
I heard on the radio an estimate of their security costs at $12 million. Canada is sure not interested in paying that and I would imagine neither is the UK. I don’t doubt that if they applied to be immigrants they would be accepted but who will pick up the tab? Also, why do they need that much security?
Harry is the Queen’s grandson, and in not too long a time he’ll be the King’s son. He and his family are targets, and always will be. The UK government will pick up the security tab, and likely provide the protection where possible. I suspect the negotiations between the UK and Canadian governments is more to do with things like “Will UK close protection officers be allowed to be armed in Canada?” and the like.
Seriously guys, “omg who will pay for these millionaire’s security?” is a silly concern for us hoi polloi. As far as government budgets go, it’s approximately zero dollars.
The estimated cost for security according to CTV news was $100k /day. That’s a non-trivial sum. In order to assuage any concerns I’m willing to bet that Harry is appointed as a Deputy Lt Governor (or goes to the top job once Julie Payette is done), and the “cost” of security gets absorbed like any other gov’t job with no political hand grenades to deal with. I’d like to see them come here although I really wonder how much of this is Harry’s idea. I suspect Meghan is the driver behind this need to avoid the spotlight.
Come on, $100k/day? That’s over $30M a year. No way. You could have 40 guys full time at $100k/year and only get up to $4M. Are they gonna get a dedicated satellite or something?
I had a look to see if I could compare that figure to the cost of security for ex-Presidents (which is a fairly comparable situation). It’s surprisingly difficult to find accurate information - at least, I wasn’t able to manage it.
I conclude that “how much is security costing” is one of those questions that security people probably don’t like to answer … for reasons of security.
Also, I can think of at least two possible reasons why the authorities might be leaking inflated numbers to the press. 1) Potential hazards to the Sussexes might be dissuaded from trying anything if they credibly believe there’s going to be a VERY large amount of security on them forever. 2) If the people who have to sign off on the bill have been led to believe it’s going to be $10 million they’d probably be happy to sign off on $5 million (still a lot) without questioning so much.
The best parallel I can think of is Earl Mountbatten. The IRA bombed his boat, killing him, his teenage grandson, a local boy who worked on the boat, and the 83 year old mother-in-law of his daughter.
Why did the IRA blow them up? Mountbatten, aged 79, held no public position in Ireland or the UK.
Except, of course, being a member of the Royal Family, as uncle of Prince Philip and distant cousin of Her Majesty.
It was to send a message that the IRA could even get to the Royal Family, as an act of war against an occupying force.*
The IRA is toned down, but there are lots of others out there who might want to take a shot at a member of the a Royal Family to send a message, even one who is trying not to be “Royal”. The Queen and the UK have a duty to protect Harry, since he’s a target by virtue entirely by his birth. That may well spill over to Canada, both by ties to the Commonwealth and by the duty of countries to assist in protecting “internationally protected persons”, the term used in the Criminal Code.
Whether you agree with that characterization, or not, is not really relevant to this example, in my opinion. It’s the fact of what happened and why that is relevant to this discussion, not the characterization of the event.
First, Harry’s deal with the Queen includes a term that he will not be involved in representing the monarch. Since that’s essentially what the job of Lieutenant Governor is, it’s a prime example of a job that Harry cannot do.
Secondly, I seriously doubt that Lieutenant Govenors get the level of security protection that the royals are accustomed to, or that might be judged necessary for someone with Harry’s profile and connections.
Thirdly, Lt-Governors are appointed on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister. Sicne the effect of such an appointment would be to put the cost of protection on the Canadian authorities (I’m not sure whether it would fall in practice on the federal or provincial government) it’s not immediately obvious why the Canadian Prime Minister would think this was such a crash-hot idea.
And, fourthly, does Harry have any of the qualifications generally considered desirable in a Lieutenant Governor? His appointment would be a striking departure from the general pattern of appointments for the past several decades. Politically, how would it be justified?