Opinion: King Charles Is Risking It All for Harry. It Won’t End Well

Jane Barlow / via REUTERS The campaign to secure Prince Harry state-funded security upon his return to the United Kingdom is well underway, despite the fact that just 2 percent of the British people think the government should be responsible for paying Harry’s security bill.

It might seem incredible that Harry and Meghan, who less than four years ago were roundly criticizing the British royal family, now appear, without having issued any apology or even an expression of regret for having upset people, to be coming back to the U.K. with many of the benefits of being members of the royal family.

Any idea that the King is not involved is, frankly, absurd.

Harry is being folded back into British life by his father.

It’s going to go down incredibly badly, the plan that these two people who think the monarchy is terrible, cruel, duplicitous, deceptive, uncaring (pick your own pejorative adjective) are now back in a better position than any non-working members of the royal family have ever been in.

Even the most basic level of protection is going to cost serious money.

Round-the-clock cover with one officer on duty at all times requires a team of at least five officers—once you allow for weekends, leave, and sickness.

At £80,000 ($109,000) per year, that’s £400,000 ($545,000) in salaries alone.

Once you add employer costs, vehicles, and overtime, you’re looking at something closer to £700,000 ($950,000) a year.

More significant is the general establishment softening-up program.

David Blunkett, a former British Home Secretary, is quoted in The Times saying the Sussexes should be given a “medium level” of government-funded protection when they move back to the U.K., calling this a “happy medium.” Another government minister said it was “hard to imagine how he and his family would not receive some protection.” And by a huge, huge coincidence, RAVEC (the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, the body responsible for determining security protection in the U.K.) has finally completed its long-awaited risk management board review.

Don’t forget that this review was carried out in defiance of a court ruling after Harry personally lobbied the current Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

That this is all being enabled by the King is made very clear by the complete lack of censure applied over the past six years in respect to Harry, despite all the negative effects and massive destabilization he has had on the monarchy.

It’s very telling that we haven’t heard anything at all from William and Catherine.