Prince Harry will ‘understand’ his new A-list bodyguards’ protocol thanks to his royal upbringing and military background, security expert reveals – but Meghan will have to ‘stick to the boundaries’
- Couple have hired security team dubbed ‘the secret service for famous people’
- They are thought to be paying an eye-watering £7,000 a day for their protection
- Celebrity security expert said Harry will be used to the bodyguard’s protocol
- Added Meghan Markle will have to keep to the ‘boundaries’ the team sets
Prince Harry will be familiar with the requirements of his new ‘£7,000-a-day’ personal security team thanks to his royal upbringing and military training, a celebrity bodyguard explained.
Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, who are living at Hollywood tycoon Tyler Perry’s mansion in Los Angeles with their son Archie, have enlisted the services of a firm also used by a slew of A-listers, including Jeff Bezos and Tom Hanks.
The team watching the royals in LA is believed to have been handpicked by Gavin de Becker, 65 – a former security chief for President Ronald Reagan. de Becker’s team are thought to have already been employed to protect Perry’s eight-bedroom mansion.
Speaking to The Times today, fellow celebrity security expert Will Geddes, whose London-based International Corporate Protection guards musicians, businessmen and royals around the world, explained he foresees de Becker’s officers having few issues with Harry – but that Meghan will have to be aware of boundaries.
Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, who are living at Hollywood tycoon Tyler Perry’s mansion in Los Angeles with their son Archie, have enlisted the services of a firm also used by a slew of A-listers, including Jeff Bezos and Tom Hanks. Pictured, the couple in London in March
He said: ‘I’ve never protected Harry, but I’ve bumped into him. He’s very charming and nice, and as former military he would understand and accept certain protocols and there would be mutual respect.
‘What you don’t want is Meghan — whom I’ve never met — asking her boys to pick up her rice milk from the Whole Foods down the road. So long as boundaries are stuck to, there should be no problems.’
de Becker’s firm GDBA claims to protect thousands of clients and has boasted of working with the CIA and FBI. Michael J Fox once described the company as the ‘secret service for famous people’.
An unnamed Hollywood insider told the newspaper: ‘De Becker is a publicity fiend and he’s the bodyguard du jour. He’ll already be doing security for all Harry and Meghan’s celebrity buddies, who’ll have said, “Oh, Gavin’s the best”.’
But such care doesn’t come cheap. It is thought Harry and Meghan will be paying de Becker £7,000-a-day for security, or the equivalent of £2.5 million a year.
It is unclear who is paying for the security bill, though friends of the Sussexes claimed last week that the couple would be paying for protecting out of their own pocket.
A security expert said Meghan will have to be aware of boundaries set by the security team. Pictured, Meghan was ushered out of a Fijian market by her then police protection officer (left) and local security (right) after the engagement became a ‘security risk’
The friends also claimed that the couple are being protected by a private security team already in place at Tyler Perry’s mansion in Los Angeles.
De Becker is thought to be close friends with Oprah Winfrey, the chat show host who is also a confidante of Meghan.
Harry and Meghan’s security has been a subject of much debate, after an insider told the Daily Mail last week that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could only afford to start paying off their £2.4million bill for Frogmore Cottage once Prince Charles had agreed to foot their astronomical security costs in the US.
However, a friend of the couple later claimed that the Sussexes will pay for any security measures out of their own pocket in the future.
According to the anonymous source, the couple are not ‘asking for any special treatment’ with regard to their security situation, and ‘have not received any’.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been living in this ultra-luxury Beverly Hills hideout that belongs to Hollywood tycoon Tyler Perry, DailyMailTV exclusively revealed
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