Taxpayers look set to keep paying £7.6million a year in security bill as Harry, Meghan and Archie start new life in Canada

It has been reported that the tax payer will continue to pay Harry and Meghan’s security bill even though the couple have dropped their HRH titles.

Since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they were stepping back from royal life, there has been a growing row about who will pick up the £7.6million bill as they split their time between the UK and Canada. 

However Buckingham Palace’s unexpected statement this evening didn’t directly address who would be paying for it. The statement read: ‘Buckingham Palace does not comment on the details of security arrangements. There are well-established independent processes to determine the need for publicly-funded security.’ 

Security expert Chris Matthews has claimed it could cost as much as £7.6million a year to protect the family. He estimated the security measures required for them would be similar to those of the Prime Minister. He warned in an interview with The Globe and Mail which is one of Canada’s biggest newspapers, that security would be more costly as they would have to start from scratch. 

He said: ‘They need personal body guards all the time. You have to pay those peoples salaries. You’ve got to pay for the vehicles they travel in and the aircraft they travel in. You have to pay for the communications equipment they require because it has to be sophisticated so that you can’t just listen to it’ alongside this he also explained that their residence would need to have fences installed, alongside CCTV and alarms, which all comes at an extra cost.