The truth has finally come out about how much security during Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s brief stay in Canada cost taxpayers there, and many are not happy about the hefty price tag.
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Security Tab In Canada Tops $40k
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is an advocacy group that pushes for lower taxes for the people of Canada, and this organization claims to have obtained documents showing that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) spent CA$56,384 on security costs for Harry and Meghan from Nov. 18, 2019 to Jan. 19, 2020.
This figure transfers to more than $40,000 in American dollars, according to Fox News.
EXCLUSIVE: Harry & Meghan’s brief Canada stay cost taxpayers more than $50,000 in RCMP bills.
NOT INCLUDING SALARIES.
Just OT & incidentals.
$56,384 from Nov 18 2019 to Jan. 19, 2020.#HarryandMeghan #cdnpoli
Read the full story & see ATIP documents here:https://t.co/CetXeofZ2H pic.twitter.com/YdaIa99FL9— Kris Sims (@kris_sims) June 15, 2020
Meghan and Harry initially moved to Vancouver Island after shocking the world by stepping down as senior members of the British royal family, only spending a few weeks there before moving to Los Angeles, California.
However, though their time in Canada was brief, it clearly ended up being quite costly for taxpayers in the North American nation.
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Security Bill ‘Could Have Easily Turned Into Millions’
Aaron Wudrick, the federal director for the CTF, said the security bill “could have easily turned into millions” had the royals chosen to stay in Vancouver any longer.
“More than $50,000 [in Canadian dollars] is nothing to sneeze at, especially when you consider the fact that this is taxpayers’ money covering bills for one of the most famous and wealthy couples in the world,” Wudrick added.
The group also noted that the price tag for taxpayers was undoubtedly even more than that, as the documents do not include the salaries of the officers on duty for the couple. Instead, the papers “only” show the costs related to “overtime, travel, meals, incidentals and accommodations.”
Canadian Taxpayers Fight Back
The costs for Meghan and Harry’s security was a hotly debated topic in Canada during the entirety of their time there, as taxpayers made it clear that they had no interest in footing the bill for the British royals.
Back in January, over 80,000 Canadians signed a petition demanding that Meghan and Harry fund their own security costs, and it didn’t take long for their government to back down.
Canadian officials soon released a statement saying that taxpayers would be off the hook when it came to paying for the couple’s security after March, which was when they would officially transition out of being royals.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex choosing to relocate to Canada on a part-time basis presented our government with a unique and unprecedented set of circumstances,” Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said. “The RCMP has been engaged with officials in the U.K. from the very beginning regarding security considerations.”
He added that since Harry and Meghan were still “Internationally Protected Persons” at the time, the government had no choice but to provide them security on an “as-needed basis.”
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Come Up Empty After Move From Canada
As soon as Harry and Meghan moved to Los Angeles, the drama escalated when President Donald Trump immediately said that American taxpayers would not be paying a dime for their security.
Spoiled brats Harry and Meghan just left Canada for LA without so much as a thank you for paying all their security costs. @realDonaldTrump has made it clear that isn’t happening here. Time to put your big boy/girl pants on #HarryandMeghan. #MAGA #FoxNews #WhenCoronaVirusIsOver pic.twitter.com/2vqBSWb3yo
— Michael Nöthem (@mikandynothem) March 29, 2020
The couple fired back by claiming that they had never intended to make American taxpayers foot the bill for them.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have no plans to ask the U.S. government for security resources,” a spokesperson for the royals said. “Privately funded security arrangements have been made.”
This should all show Harry and Meghan that they made a huge mistake in stepping down as royals and leaving the United Kingdom, where they had the deal of a lifetime with their security costs being funded by British taxpayers.
There’s no reason why taxpayers in other parts of the world should need to pay a dime for their security. And it’s a slap in the face to Canadians that they were forced to do that in such an egregious way.
We’re just thankful that Trump was proactive in making sure that American taxpayers were never going to pay for the security of this couple.
Perhaps Meghan and Harry should have thought about how they could pay their bills themselves before they were so quick to abandon the royal family and the British taxpayers who have gotten them to where they are today.