King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s United States tour is facing a security risk in the aftermath of the White House Correspondents’ dinner shooting just days before.
“This particular visit most probably has a security level of extremely high risk due to the nature of the president and what is going on politically in America,” Simon Morgan, former Met Police bodyguard to the British Royal Family, exclusively told Page Six after a gunman stormed the annual dinner Saturday in a failed attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump.
Morgan said that royal security forces will work in tandem with the Secret Service for the US visit.
Morgan said that royal security forces will work in tandem with the Secret Service to ensure a safe trip.
“Those officers will be on hand … and they’ll be working together with the Secret Service to make sure that the package in place is the correct one,” he said.
As for how security forces will reevaluate their protection plan after the shooting, Morgan said a review would “naturally take place.”
“What will change is very difficult for us to say because we haven’t got access to the plan …. But, you know, things will be looked at to make sure there’s no gaps in the protection,” he explained. “That could be a doorway, there could be more staff members needed. They could be looking at how the King and Queen are being moved around, therefore, may have to change the motorcade principles. They may have to now fly.”
He continued, “All these questions will be looked at. They’ll be part of the mitigation, and they’ll be part of the contingencies that are put in place.”
In his opinion, Morgan believes their trip should go on as planned and there is no reason to cancel — especially because the shooter was thwarted.
“If the attack was still going on, that it hadn’t been kind of neutralized as it was, then you’d have to say, I really don’t think we can go. But as things stand … this trip has been planned at a very high level of security for many, many months,” he said. “There’s been lots of mitigation put in place and lots of contingencies.”
“It’s not a case of, hey, we’ve made a plan and no matter what, we will execute it. Because that plan is constantly evolving and you would be failing in your duty of care to your principles if you didn’t keep
on updating that plan and allow it kind of to evolve,” he continued.
The security expert explained that political spaces, such as Tuesday’s White House visit, are “a lot easier to control.”
He added, “They’ve already got high-level security presence, so therefore that is a lot easier space and was probably something that certainly both protection departments would feel a lot more comfortable with.“
Charles, 77, and Camilla, 78, touched down in the States on Monday and met up with the president and first lady on Tuesday morning.
On Wednesday, they will travel to New York City to visit the 9/11 Memorial and New York Public Library.
There will also be a reception for Charles’ King’s Trust charity work in the evening.
They will travel to Virginia for the final leg of their tour Thursday, where they will attend cultural events and local engagements.
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