King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s visit to the United States faces security risks in the wake of the White House Correspondent Dinner shooting that occurred just days earlier.
“Due to the nature of the president and what’s going on politically in America, this particular visit will probably be at a very high security level,” Simon Morgan, a former Metropolitan Police bodyguard to the British royal family, exclusively told Page Six after a gunman burst into Saturday’s annual dinner and attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump.
Mr Morgan said the royal security forces would work in conjunction with the Secret Service in preparation for the US visit.
Mr Morgan said the Royal Security Forces would work in conjunction with the Secret Service to ensure safe travel.
“Those officers are on standby and will be working with the Secret Service to ensure that the given package is the correct one,” he said.
Morgan said a review of how security forces reassess their protection plans after a shooting incident “will happen naturally.”
“It’s very difficult to say what will change because we haven’t had access to the plan… but as you know, the situation will be reviewed to make sure there are no gaps in protection,” he explained. “It could be a doorway and more staff might be needed. They could be looking at how the king and queen will travel. So they might have to change the principle of the convoy. They might have to fly now.”
He continued: “All these issues will be considered. They will be part of the mitigation measures and they will be part of the contingency that will be implemented.”
In Morgan’s opinion, the trip should have gone ahead as planned and believes there is no reason to cancel it, especially since the shooter was thwarted.
“I have to say that if the attacks were still going on and we weren’t neutralized like this, we really wouldn’t be able to go. But as things stand… this trip has been planned for many months under very tight security,” he said. “A lot of mitigation measures were put in place and a lot of contingencies were put in place.”
“This does not mean that just because you have a plan, you will carry it out no matter what, because the plan is constantly evolving and if you don’t follow it, you would be breaching your duty of care to the principles.”
We will update that plan and allow it to evolve,” he continued.
A security expert explained that political spaces like Tuesday’s White House visit are “much easier to control.”
He added: “They already have a high level of security in place, so that space would have been much easier and probably something that both protection departments would have felt more comfortable with.”
Charles, 77, and Camilla, 78, arrived in the United States on Monday and met with the president and first lady on Tuesday morning.
On Wednesday, they are scheduled to travel to New York City and visit the 9/11 Memorial and New York Public Library.
There will also be a reception for Charles’ King’s Trust charity in the evening.
They will head to Virginia on Thursday for the final leg of their tour, where they will attend cultural and local events.
