Meghan Markle’s Complaint About Archie Not Getting Security Was ‘Stupid,’ Royal Source Says
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex recently shared many revelations about her life in the royal family in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. She revealed many behind-the-scenes secrets about her life as a royal. And some information she divulged concerned her son, Archie.
During the interview, Meghan talked about the royal family not giving her son security for various reasons. Although she implied this decision was unfair for her and her family, a royal source called the complaint “stupid.”
What did Meghan Markle say about Archie not getting security?
According to Meghan, during her pregnancy members of the royal institution decided not to give Archie the title of “prince.” She alleged to Oprah that this means he would not be eligible for the tax-funded security provided to other members of the royal family.
“They said [he’s not going to get security], because he’s not going to be a prince,” she said in the interview on CBS. “OK, well, he needs to be safe, so we’re not saying don’t make him a prince or princess. But if you’re saying the title is what’s going to affect that protection, we haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder; you’ve allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe.”
She also alluded to her biracial background possibly being the explanation for this situation. “All around this same time we had in tandem the conversation of he won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title, and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” Meghan said.
Why a royal source says Meghan Markle’s complaint about security was ‘stupid’
While Buckingham Palace has released a statement saying it will look into the racial issues Meghan brought up, other people denounced her security complaint as unfounded.
“The point they were making was stupid,” one source familiar with royal security told The Times. “A baby that can’t crawl wouldn’t get protection in its own right. It doesn’t need it. The baby doesn’t go anywhere independently, it’s with Harry and Meghan all the time.”
Furthermore, the news outlet noted that security arrangements for royals are made based on threat assessment conducted by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre. In recent years, there have been cutbacks on tax-funded security, and as such not every royal would be eligible for tax-funded security.
“[The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre does] threat assessments for anyone of any note and they obviously know who has targeted who in the past so certain individuals have been targeted by certain terror groups and their threat level is moderate high or very high,” a police source told The Times. “The leading royals all get protection but again done on a threat assessment basis.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are not entitled to royal security in the U.S.
During the interview, Prince Harry also noted that it was a “shock” to him when his security arrangement was removed after he and Meghan moved to Canada and subsequently the United States.
The police insider told The Times this was expected for someone who willingly stepped down as a senior royal and moved to another continent.
“It still will exist — there still will be a threat against Meghan and Harry but it won’t be high,” the insider said.
The Times reported that, according to Dai Davies, who worked for the police division responsible for royal protection, if Meghan and Harry are facing threats, their U.S. security arrangement should be left up to the FBI and local police forces.
