As the UK's Prince Harry strives to regain the Metropolitan Police protection he no longer enjoys after stepping down from his royal duties, his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is unlikely to help him in that regard, The Sun reports.
According to the newspaper, a royal source said that "this is not a matter for Her Majesty", and that the monarch "certainly won’t cave in" to the Duke of Sussex’s "demands".
"It is a matter for Her Majesty’s government. Who gets protection is not a gift the Queen can decide to give or take away," they said.
Another source reportedly explained that Harry’s "demands for security in the UK have not been openly or widely discussed within the family because it was thought sorted two years ago".
While Harry did offer to pay for police protection, Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, argued the Metropolitan Police "are not guns for hire".
"When Harry made his decision, he wanted out of the protective arm of the Royal Family, he maybe didn’t realise the pitfalls. One sympathises but this is the law. He hasn’t thought it through," she said, as quoted by the newspaper. "He has always been paranoid about security because he was a serving officer in Afghanistan. But he can’t have it every which way. Harry has put himself in this situation and he has made his bed and has to sleep in it. If he doesn’t think he can bring his family back, then so be it."
Last week, media reported that Prince Harry’s legal representatives filed a "pre-action protocol" letter to the Home Office, declaring a readiness to sue the British government if no further security is provided when the prince and his wife Meghan Markle travel to the UK.
Having stepped down from their royal duties, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are no longer provided security by the Metropolitan Police Service, which protects members of the Royal Family around the world.