Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Are Facing Security Threats at Their Montecito Home

Meghan said she "begged" the royal family not to pull Harry's security.

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle
(Image credit: Getty Images ¦ Pool)

This is awful: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are facing repeated security threats at their Montecito home, with police called to the couple's house nine times since they moved in last July. According to data from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, police responded to calls described as "phone requests, alarm activations and property crimes," the Telegraph reports

Four of the calls occurred last July, the month the Sussexes moved into their new home, according to the Telegraph, with one recorded as a phone request and the others as alarm activations. Police were also called to the house in August, November, December, and January.

The December police callouts concerned a trespassing incident, which saw a man travel from Ohio to California in order to breach the Sussexes' property on both December 24 and December 26. The man was let off with a warning after the first breach, but was arrested and charged after the second.

The Telegraph's report comes after Meghan and Harry shared concerns about their security in their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Meghan told Winfrey that the royals didn't want to make son Archie a prince, thus preventing him from receiving security, and revealed that she had begged the royal family not to withdraw Harry's security after the couple stepped back as senior royals. The Sussexes also said they signed their Netflix and Spotify deals in order to pay for their own security, after the royals cut Harry off financially.

"I even wrote letters to his family saying, 'Please, it's very clear the protection of me or Archie is not a priority. I accept that. That is fine. Please keep my husband safe. I see the death threats. I see the racist propaganda. Please keep him safe. Please don't pull his security and announce to the world when he and we are most vulnerable,'" Meghan said, as BuzzFeed News reports.

Harry, too, shared his surprise at having his security removed. "I never thought that I would have my security removed, because I was born into this position. I inherited the risk. So that was a shock to me. That was what completely changed the whole plan," he told Winfrey. 

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Meghan Markle & Prince Harry

(Image credit: Getty Images ¦ Chris Jackson)
Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.