The decision to grant Taylor Swift a police escort this summer could unwittingly provide Prince Harry with a boost in his ongoing dispute over security for himself and his family.
Earlier this year, Swift’s team lobbied the government to take the unusual measure of providing police security whilst the star was in London to perform five shows at Wembley Stadium.
The week before, Swift had been forced to cancel shows in Vienna after an advanced terror plot was foiled. Andrea Swift is said to have negotiated directly with Sue Gray, the Prime Minister’s then Chief of Staff and reportedly threatened to cancel the shows if the request was not granted.
The decision caused anger amongst many with governmental figures seemingly overruling police bosses who had originally refused the request.
Prince Harry is embroiled in a security-related dispute of his own after losing his automatic right to security after stepping back from royal duties.
Earlier this year, he lost a legal battle with the Home Office, a decision he intends to appeal in April next year.
It is understood that the prince will use the example of Swift to strengthen his case by showing that exemptions to the existing framework can be made.
A source close to the prince told the Telegraph: “The decision to provide a police escort for Taylor Swift has exposed troubling inconsistencies in how protection decisions are reached.
“Whilst Prince Harry is denied protection despite consistent, long-standing and well-documented threats, we saw extraordinary measures being taken here including the Met seeking counsel from the Attorney General for a visiting performer because that performer’s manager and parent threatened to pull her out if she wasn’t given the protection they wanted for her.”
Neil Basu, a former assistant commissioner of the Met police, told The Telegraph he believed the force had rightly agreed to protect Swift in order to mitigate risk and to manage “the political and possible economic impact of getting it wrong or cancelling the show”.
He said: “I would have made the same decision. But the same logic applies surely to the youngest son and family of our King?”
Mr Basu, who was also the Met’s counter terror chief, said that during his tenure from 2018 until 2021, there was a “very real” and “disgusting” threat against the Sussexes which was unlikely to have lessened in the intervening years.
He added: “There remains a broad spectrum of threats from online actors/trolls stirring hate as well as organised terror groups against prominent public figures, and the Sussex family will be one of the most prominent targets.
“The dangers to Taylor Swift were and are real, but so are those faced by Prince Harry and his family.
“There may well be no imminent threat, but there is always risk, risk that can be mitigated by the tactics used by the Met Police on the day.”
Prince Harry is not the only royal to have his security removed after stepping back from royal duties.
Following his disastrous Newsnight interview and his subsequent public duty, Prince Andrew had his security detail removed and is now forced to cover the costs of security himself.
