Police call for funds to protect royals
BRITAIN’S top policeman has written to Home Secretary Alan Johnson demanding more money to protect the Royal Family and other VIPs.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson made the formal request amid a review of how taxpayers’ money is spent.
He acted after an internal police audit raised fears that the royals, senior politicians and diplomats could be in danger because officers are overstretched.
The cost of protecting them is an official secret but is thought to have risen from £50million to nearer £100million a year.
Senior officers, who have raised the possibility of ending protection for minor royals such as Prince Andrew’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie to save cash, urged the Commissioner to give the Government an ultimatum after years of underfunding.
They said the formula for calculating how much the force receives does not take into account the true burden of the cost.
Many of the SAS-trained police officers work up to 70 hours a week.
