Security Expert Urges Prince Harry to Do One Key Thing Amid Stalker Threats
Concerns regarding Prince Harry’s security issue in the UK have reached a point where a legal intervention seems the only way out. A leading security expert has shared his two cents on the matter and advised the Duke to consider seeking a restraining order against an alleged stalker who has repeatedly breached perimeters and gotten close to him. The situation unraveled alongside Harry’s ongoing high court battle and has been at the center of his wider argument that setting foot on British soil again without state-funded police protection puts him and his family at risk.
According to Newsweek, Alex Bloomberg, the chief executive of private security firm Intelligent Protection International, addressed the risk posed by so-called “fixated persons.” While revealing what Harry’s next plan of action should be, he said, “He probably should consider a restraining order." Bloomberg also shed light on the challenges that would come with this step and added, “The way they're probably looking at it is they probably don't want to inflame the situation." His comments came after the news of a woman with a pattern of appearing during all of Harry’s visits to the UK, who was spotted in the public gallery, began making headlines, while the Duke was in court to testify.
Prince Harry appeared in the High Court in person for four days in a row while supporting six other claimants suing Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail. It was for alleged phone hacking and other unethical practices from 2001 to 2013. As per The Telegraph, the aforementioned woman has repeatedly been present during Harry’s public appearances in Britain. It has raised concerns among his private security team, who feel powerless to intervene without police involvement. These concerns have fed directly into Harry’s appeal to reinstate his Metropolitan Police Protection, which got revoked in 2020 following his and Meghan Markle's withdrawal from royal duties.
A source close to Harry’s security team also spoke to the outlet and revealed that restoring police protection would be more tactful than issuing a restraining order. The source revealed that both the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC), a joint police and health unit in the UK meant to assess and manage risk posed by stalkers towards public figure and the Metropolitan Police Royalty and Specialist Protection Command (RASP) knew the woman. The source said, “The more interesting question here is why, given she was/is known to FTAC and RaSP, wasn’t she removed from court by them?" and responded with, "Answer: because there was no police presence in court.” They also described restraining orders as an element/part of the tools they can deploy against fixated threats, but also shared that they are often not enforceable because of mental health issues.” Hence, FTAC functions jointly with the Metropolitan Police Service and the National Health Service.
Bloomberg detailed these risks further in comments to the outlet, stressing the fragility that comes from such situations. “Yeah, but you can have fixated persons, and that's now the problem. I would say with fixated persons, it's a very, very fine line. You've got to be very careful until they cross a line where you can legally properly get them, bang to rights, then you've got to be very careful. I imagine they're probably, you know, trying to be very, very, very careful and they're trying not to draw attention to it too much.” The expert has previously stated that he is in support of Harry’s security being reinstated during visits to Britain.