Archie, Lilibet should get official protection, longtime royal photographer says

The two children of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should receive taxpayer-funded police protection, a longtime royal photographer believes.

Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are now living in the UK with their parents, attending a school in the Cotswolds.

Recently, the children were the subject of a police investigation after two men, who the Sussexes later described as “European paparazzi”, were seen “stopping to look into the grounds and monitoring children”.

Their actions were described as “extraordinarily reckless” by the Sussexes, who are awaiting the outcome of a security review by the UK government.

The Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) is reviewing the couple’s security for the first time in six years and will soon determine the level of protection they have in Britain despite being non-working members of the royal family.

Currently, Prince Harry and Meghan only have a phone number for a police liaison officer if something was to go wrong, along with their team of private bodyguards who are not permitted to carry arms.

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But it’s not enough, suggests Arthur Edwards who has been photographing the royal family for 50 years.

Speaking of the family’s recent return to Britain, Edwards told The Telegraph UK: “What were they doing in Montecito going to an American school, when they should be here playing with their cousins?”

“They should be getting to run around Balmoral and Windsor, and they should get royal protection, because if they were kidnapped, there would be uproar.”

Prince Harry’s prospects have since improved now that he’s home, Edwards says.

In America, “he was a celebrity among thousands of celebrities”.

But in the UK “he’s a prince of the realm”.

Prince Harry and Meghan made their first joint appearance in Nottingham a fortnight ago since moving back. But their spokesperson has said Meghan’s public appearances will be limited.

“He might not be the knight in shining armour at the moment, but knowing him he’ll bounce back. People have got short memories.

“I think, hopefully, if he just stops writing books and Meghan stops making horrible jam, and they start working a bit for the family, I think things could change.”

Edwards has written a book about his time on duty with the royal family, Cup of Tea, Arthur? My Extraordinary 50 Years Photographing the Royal Family, out next month.