Harry and Meghan are losing security assistance from Canadian police
Canada will no longer provide Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with security while they live in their adopted country, the Canadian government said Thursday.
The decision follows a January announcement that they will no longer be working members of the royal family, and will therefore give up their royal titles. Harry and Meghan said they would begin splitting their time between the United Kingdom and North America.
"This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity," they said in a statement.
The couple has spent much of this year in Victoria, Canada, the BBC reports.
The Canadian Office of the Minister of Public Safety said that the couple's decision to live in Canada on a "part-time basis" presented their government with a "unique and unprecedented set of circumstances."
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada's national police force, has been providing assistance to the Metropolitan Police, the United Kingdom police force that helps protect the royals, while the couple have been in Canada. That assistance will soon come to an end.
"As the Duke and Duchess are currently recognized as Internationally Protected Persons, Canada has an obligation to provide security assistance on an as needed basis. At the request of the Metropolitan Police, the RCMP has been providing assistance to the Met since the arrival of the Duke and Duchess to Canada intermittently since November 2019," Canada's Office of the Minister of Public Safety said in a statement Thursday.
"The assistance will cease in the coming weeks, in keeping with their change in status," the office said.