I recall reading at one point that Andrew had to fund the security details for Beatrice and Eugenie himself.
I do think Harry is in a different category, though. He is the son of the future King Charles III, and the only sibling of the king following that. He also served in Afghanistan (however briefly). He is one of the highest value and highest profile targets out there if you are a bad guy looking to attack a symbol of the British government. It is in the public interest to protect him from being abducted or assassinated, because that would be a huge national embarrassment and a potential leverage point. Similar to why American taxpayers keep funding Secret Service protection for ex-presidents and their families.
It’s more than a rumor. Charlie has said he wants to trim down the royal family in terms both of who does the representation and who gets the allowances. Frankly, such a thing is overdue.
As for Harry and Meghan, the media give them a hard time, but it is not unrelated to the fact that Meghan comes across as a not so nice person after all and one who lacks the common touch, not to mention her ostentatious spending. that really ticks off the less affluent. People keep looking to see if she is Wallis Simpson 2.0, and unfortunately there are some analogies. I for one suspect that the dream marriage will end in a nasty divorce within a bout a decade. The two are not really that compatible.
Curious, since Charlie is also a farmer and sells a line of food products; Duchy Organic.
I assume that the royals are not over the moon at the thought of a British duchess acting in a nondescript sitcom or the like, or shilling whatever product takes her fancy and also pays well.
This has already been an issue with the Duchess of York being a royal embarrassment. Can’t remember if Prince Andrew also raised royal eyebrows with some his money-making schemes earlier, but at any rate the royal family is playing safe with him in the light of the current allegations. Even though they are only allegations.
Regarding security for Harry and Meghan, what would private security cost?
For private security they may be able to get a discount because any company they hire would use that contract to drum up more business. There would be no shortage of security firms that would want the business.
Duchy Originals Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation and the profits go to charity, not to the Prince’s own expenses. H&M, however, are talking about something that will earn money to pay their own living expenses.
If you look at the Queen’s immediate family (Margaret, Charles, Anne, Andrew, Edward) only one of them hadn’t experienced divorce - that’s an 80% divorce rate. I don’t think you can pin anything on Megan and “compatibility”.