That is the allegation being lodged at Labour Party politicians for giving what The Sun described as “VVIP” security detail that would be fit for a royal.
The media outlet claimed that Swift and her mother and manager, Andrea Swift, “threatened to axe the August shows unless a police convoy was provided.” The cops relented after two politicians, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, intervened. Critics of the extra-special handling of Swift are noting that the Duke of Sussex can’t get that level of service even after this legal case. To make matters even trickier, Khan received free tickets to the Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium.
Ex-Metropolitan Police commander John O’Connor described the situation to The Sun as “an abuse of an elite service.” “Police should be left alone to make operational decisions,” he noted. “This interference creates a perception there is no such thing as a free lunch or concert tickets. The Met is unable to provide security for Prince Harry, but he must be in at least as much danger as Taylor Swift.”
In Swift’s defense, her alleged security command came on the heels of a foiled terrorist attempt in Vienna, Austria. She had to cancel all three concerts even after government officials arrested the two suspects — the risk was too great to her, the crew, and her fans. Still, the 34-year-old pop star has been concerned about concert safety since 2019 after the Manchester, England, and Las Vegas mass shootings. She wrote an ELLE essay that year on “30 Things I Learned Before Turning 30,” featuring the topic, “My biggest fear.”
“I was completely terrified to go on tour this time because I didn’t know how we were going to keep 3 million fans safe over seven months,” she admitted. “There was a tremendous amount of planning, expense, and effort put into keeping my fans safe.” It’s understandable that Swift probably needed that security given the timing of the terrorist plan, but the move can’t make Prince Harry feel good. He’s been in a legal fight for years over the situation.
The British government’s legal team argued in court in May 2023 that the police cannot be “private bodyguards for the wealthy” even though they did it for Swift. Prince Harry’s legal team has always maintained that he “inherited a security risk at birth, for life,” per Us Weekly. “He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats,” they said.
“While his role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the royal family has not. Nor has the threat to him and his family.”
The security controversy in the U.K. is likely to continue now that Swift has entered the chat.