Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made a move so baffling that royal experts are questioning whether the Sussexes are pulling a twisted stunt as part of their years-long battle for taxpayer-funded security.
On Sunday, Meghan posted an Instagram video of herself, Harry, and their two children, Lilibet and Archie, frolicking in the English countryside, apparently near where they have relocated in the Cotswolds after leaving California last month.
The video, which featured a series of geographical details, including a long tree-lined path and pond with a bridge, was all the more eyebrow-raising given that the Sussexes have long complained about invasions of privacy and security threats.
“It seems an almost unbelievably stupid thing to do,” The Daily Beast’s royal expert Tom Sykes said on The Royalist podcast. “I think it’s a bit ridiculous to say, oh, they just didn’t realize that anyone was gonna, like, geolocate this lake and this bridge and this farm track.”
The video took on a new dimension a day later, when it emerged that the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC), which oversees tax-funded security for royalty and public figures, had agreed to review the Sussexes’ security arrangements and conduct an official risk assessment.
Pointing to Meghan’s decision to publicly share the video, Sykes argued, “It does seem like they are creating security risks deliberately to bolster the argument that they want armed security.”
“It’s a cynical take, but I mean, you know... I did think... ‘Can he be that stupid?’” said Alison Boshoff, editor-at-large at the Daily Mail and the author of the forthcoming book Brand Beckham. “And... he will have been advised, you know, as a royal on the front line, never to disclose this information. Someone would have said to him, never disclose that information. Never, because it makes you a target.”
Boshoff added, “Either he’s really thick and has forgotten getting that advice, or he remembers getting that advice perfectly well, and it has been, you know, a part of that amazing hand of cards that he’s playing.”
The Sussexes have not been entitled to RAVEC security since they left their roles as working royals and moved to California in 2020. Harry, 42, repeatedly challenged the decision in court, claiming the reduced protection put his family at risk, but lost every case.
Meghan, 45, posted her Instagram video after Harry’s office told reporters last week that the couple had been “surprised” by a letter sent on King Charles’s behalf to ministers, military chiefs, lord lieutenants and high sheriffs, restating that Meghan and Harry are not working royals and that their position is “akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”
Sykes noted, “One of the remarkable features of this story over the past five years has been Harry’s consistent confidence that he’s about to get his security improved, and the other on the other side, the remarkable persistence of the RAVEC committee saying, ‘Yeah, sorry guys, A, you’re not eligible; B, we’ve got nine prime ministers to worry about; and C, we’ve got no money and no policemen anyway.’”
The Sussex office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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