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After Prince Harry lost a legal bid to pay for his own police protection, barrister Robert Webster wondered why security arrangements were being sought now instead of prior to Harry and Meghan Markle’s UK departure, aka “Mexit.”

“That Harry is compelled to resolve his justifiable concerns about his security in court is shameful,” Webster shared with Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “Why were arrangements for this crucial aspect of his post-Royal life not finalized prior to Mexit? Perhaps Mexit has a number of parallels with Brexit – an act of serious self-harm leading to isolation and ridicule and a failure to address what the aftermath would really look like!”

Prince Harry and Meghan’s security concerns are very real

Webster questioned the timing of the security request because Harry and Meghan have needed protection for quite some time.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry greet a crowd of fans
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | James Devaney/GC Images

“Harry’s security concerns are, of course, real,” he said. “It has been claimed by the retiring Assistant Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police that Harry and Meghan had been subject to what he described as multiple ‘disgusting threats’ to their safety that would have left them feeling constantly menaced.”

“There is no doubt, too, that the Prince remains haunted by his mother’s death,” he added. “And, moreover, the manner of it. He is consumed by the fear that history could repeat itself, a fear, seemingly resurrected by the recent encounter with the paparazzi in New York, although accounts of this escapade differ significantly.”

Harry and Meghan were recently subjected to a horrifying car chase in New York City.

‘There is no doubt that Harry and Meghan have issues which need to be confronted’

Webster recalled that Prince Harry and Meghan were once considered to be “a dynamic couple who could best be described as ‘ambassadors for good.’  He then wondered, “Alas, it must now be sadly asked whether they have earned the sobriquet ‘merchants of conflict?’  There is no doubt that Harry and Meghan have issues which need to be confronted. Not least the way in which Meghan, in particular, has been vilified in the media.  Her treatment by the Palace also warrants some consideration.”  

“Did courtiers at ‘Buck House’ know how to deal with a relatively accomplished highly opinionated actress of mixed race who had already made her way in the world, earned a few shillings, and behaved in a rather assertive manner?” he asked. 

“From afar, it looks as if those who were meant to serve her at the Palace simply saw her as bossy and uncompromising,” Webster said. “Was this demonstration of insensitivity to the ‘new girl’ the start of creating the chasm that sunders the Harry-Meghan faction from the rest of the Firm – as the Queen affectionately referred to the Royal Family?”

Buckingham Palace and Prince Harry should put aside personal issues

Webster goes back to the fact that Harry and Meghan’s concerns should truly be addressed, not just for them, but also for the monarchy.

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“Harry and Meghan’s issues require resolution but reconciliation for the sake of the preservation and improvement of the ‘family business’ is of greater importance,” he said. “Like all members of the royal family, Harry understands the importance of ‘duty’ – as does his brother.” 

“They owe it to the nation, to the institution of the monarchy and, indeed, to their father, to make the difficult sacrifice of putting aside personal differences and rally round for the sake of a greater cause,” Webster asserted. ” Serving humankind   – whether it be in the UK or the Commonwealth is, perhaps, a nobler cause than serving Netflix. One never wants to let one’s grandma down.  Harry’s grandma would approve of a return to the family fold; she would also approve of service … real service.” 

Robert Webster is an English Barrister and a Lecturer in Law at the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law. He was Called to the Bar by The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, who bestowed on him a Queen’s Silver Jubilee Scholarship and a Duke of Edinburgh award at the conclusion of his legal studies.