Security for Harry and Meghan cost B.C. RCMP $50,000

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Posted June 15, 2020 1:18 pm.

Last Updated June 15, 2020 1:19 pm.

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) show the RCMP spent more than $50,000 on security for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for the few months they lived in B.C.


This comes from a freedom of information request by the CTF, which found between Nov. 18 and Jan. 22, at least $56,348 was spent on the couple’s security. But according to the CTF, that number does not include salaries or costs incurred after that date.

“More than $50,000 is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you consider the fact that this is taxpayers’ money covering bills for one of the most famous and wealthy couples in the world,” said Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Had the government not cut them off and had Meghan and Harry stayed in Canada, the bill could have easily turned into millions.”

The pair moved to Canada after officially stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family.

When it was announced RCMP would stop providing security for the couple, federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair noted in a statement, Harry and Meghan’s move to Canada presented “a unique and unprecedented set of circumstances.”

It was also said RCMP had been helping the U.K.’s Metropolitan Police provide security for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex intermittently since their arrival.

The statement adds Canada was obligated to provide security “as needed” because they are Internationally Protected Persons, and that the assistance stopped “in keeping with their change in status.”

The CTF’s petition urging Trudeau’s government to have the couple pay for their own security was signed by 80,000 earlier in the year.

-With files from the Canadian Press

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