Harry & Meghan security warning issued by former counter-terror chief

Former Met Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu has said the government need to reinstate police protection for Prince Harry and his family.

The government is now under pressure to give the taxpayer-funded security to the prince, 41, his wife Meghan , 45, and their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, who landed back in Britain on Wednesday.

Mr Basu served as the national head of counter-terrorism policing and Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations in the Metropolitan Police from March 2018 until his retirement in November 2022 and used to sit on the Ravec committee.

He said: "In 2019, [Prince Harry] was one of very few people we thought needed the full package. In 2026, he doesn't. I have never been able to see how his threat risk has reduced.

"Whether you like him or you don't and I'm quite sick of listening to people, including everybody I know, pretending they know him, they don't.

"He's a fundamentally really decent man who is trying to do the right thing by his wife and two children. In my experience, the independent chair listens to the home secretary, who listens to the prime minister, who listens to the head of state... I'll leave it there."

Mr Basu added: "It was my units who protected him and the rest of the royal family and the VIPs. It was my units that investigated the allegations of threats to kill against him and Meghan from the extreme right-wing, Islamist extremist threats against him, as well as extreme right-wing threats against him for marrying a mixed-race woman and being declared a race traitor."

"I used to protect him by being the head of protection. Effectively it was my units who protected him and the rest of the royal family and the VIPs.

"So, I know a lot about that. It was my units that investigated the allegations of threats to kill against him and Meghan from the extreme right-wing, two of which are serving seven years for that offence, probably about to be early released, or out now."

Asked if he thinks Harry and his family are safe living in the UK without police protection, Mr Basu said: "They obviously wouldn't be as safe as being given police protection because I know the standard and calibre of close protection would be at a very high level.