Princess Diana's former bodyguard has said that the Queen's great-grandson Archie is at "real risk" from being kidnapped, and so her Majesty should be the one to pay for Harry and Meghan's security.
Ken Wharfe, who was Harry's late mum Diana’s personal protection officer, appeared on TV this morning to be interviewed about the young family's protection costs once they formally leave the royal family at the end of the month.
Canada has said the Mounted Police will stop paying for their security once the Duke and Duchess of Sussex step back from their royal roles.
The estimated cost, which could still be picked up by the British taxpayer, is about £20m a year.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain Mr Wharfe said he believes the figure is accurate.
He said a PPO would be around £100,000 a year, and Meghan, Harry and Archie would need two, per person, as a minimum, plus accommodation, travel and administration costs on top.
Speaking about Archie Mr Wharfe said: "He's part of the package. It doesn't matter if he stays in Canada , or comes to the United Kingdom, the building they are staying in has to be secured even when they are not there.
"From my point of view, Archie is probably the biggest threat to their family, than their parents, in the sense that there is a real risk of kidnap here."
He added: "We know what happened with Diana in 1997, because of the inefficient security that was afforded her at that time, we cannot go down the private sector here, because with security you need access to government intelligence in this country and abroad.
"The answer is, given the fact that the Queen subsidises the security given to Beatrice and Eugenie, now is the time to look at the Queen herself, or even his father, should subsidise this security bill."
Dai Davies, former head of Royalty Protection, said: "One of the key things in any protection role is the backup and the Canadians pulling out of any previous agreement could have severe consequences.
"Clearly there needs to be a protocol in any risk assessment but is Canada saying Harry, Meghan and Archie should be treated like any other citizen?
"If this is so, they and their security handlers are entering completely unchartered territoy which has come about purely by Harry and Meghan's actions by their actions and will create even bigger issues for the Met Police.
"It's very worrying because the Sussexes do need protection but they clearly hadn't thought any of this through before pulling the rather hasty trigger on their announcements they were leaving their royal roles.
"This is precisely one of the reasons the rest of the family would have advised them to wait to formulate proper, workable plans."
