Via Daily Mail:
By Rebecca English, Royal Editor
A former head of royal protection has condemned Prince Harry’s boasts about killing Taliban fighters as ‘foolish in the extreme’.
Retired chief superintendent Dai Davies said that the Duke of Sussex’s claims had increased the security risk not just to himself and his family – but the British public at large.
‘He has raised the risk to all of us by resurrecting the war in Afghanistan with his ill-advised comments, which are foolish in the extreme,’ he said.
‘In the UK we have a Coronation this year with a whole raft of public events. All it takes is one extremist seeking to make a point.’
Mr Davies, who has worked in police and security for more than 50 years, said that Harry’s comments would almost certainly prompt a review of royal security in the UK.
He added: ‘He has increased the risk not just to himself, his wife and children and also those who protect him in the US, but also to our Royal Family here in the UK.
‘This has raised the game. The Taliban has been quite quiet recently but this is a long term issue, you can’t predict when an attack is going to happen.
‘I would be recommending that RAVEC [the Royal and VIP Executive Committee] immediately undertake a risk assessment – not tomorrow but today – and where necessary take steps to increase protection. I think this should apply not just for senior royals but the more junior ones too who may be deemed easier to get at.’
The retired Met Police chief estimated there are around 10,000 Isis and Al Qaeda supporters still in the UK – who he described as a ‘real and present threat’.
Referencing author Salman Rushdie, who was subject to a Fatwa in 1989 and was stabbed on stage last year, Mr Davies added: ‘The combination of a fixated individual driven by ideology is extremely dangerous.
‘We have seen exactly the same issue with the attack on Salman Rushdie recently. It really is a genuine fear.’
He continued: ‘Harry’s decision is just inexplicable. He has added fuel to the fire. Boasting about how many Taliban he killed and describing them as pieces on a chessboard has raised the game. And coming from an ex senior royal? Well it just beggars belief.
‘The risk to both him and our Royal Family has been significantly heightened due to his foolish comments. I would really like to know whose idea it was to even discuss this. What kind of idiot are you, Harry?’
Referring to Harry’s legal battle over his security arrangements, Mr Davies said: ‘The irony of him doing this against a backdrop of taking the Home Office and the Met to court for pulling his [official police] bodyguards when he quit and moved to the US is lost on no one.
‘I can’t think of a more foolish thing for him to have done.’
