“They must pay!”: Donald Trump delivers brutal message to Prince Harry and Meghan as they move to the US
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have fired back at President Donald Trump after he tweeted that the United States will not pay for the couple’s security on Sunday.
A spokesman for the pair said they “had no plans to ask the US” and added that “privately funded security arrangements have been made”.
The sudden response came shortly after Trump said the couple should foot the bill for their bodyguards now they have moved across the border from Vancouver.
In a tweet on Sunday, Trump said: “I am a great friend and admirer of the Queen & the United Kingdom. It was reported that Harry and Meghan, who left the Kingdom, would reside permanently in Canada. Now they have left Canada for the U.S. however, the U.S. will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!”
Meghan’s mother Doria lives in Los Angeles, and the former actress grew up there. The couple took a private jet with their son Archie, ten months, just before non-essential travel between Canada and US was suspended.
Trump has the final say over whether the couple can have US-funded diplomatic protection in the US, because Harry will no longer be classed as an “international protected person” when he completed the final phase of exiting the royal family next week.
The British Metropolitan Police is still responsible for their security and it is understood Scotland Yard will still provide their own protection officers in the US.
However, it is unknown as to what the “private” security arrangements Meghan and Harry claim to have made are.
The couple made the decision to move to California after Canadian authorities said they would refuse to contribute to the cost of protecting them with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after March 31.