Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a new head of protection

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a new female head of protection – armed and in heels.

The woman, who the Mail is not naming for security reasons, has been working with the couple for several months and is currently with them in Australia, overseeing the massive police operation that surrounds them.

Harry and Meghan are travelling across four different Commonwealth nations, including Fiji and conducting 76 engagements in 16 days.

Most senior female members of the Royal Family have at least one woman close protection officer on their team.

This week the bodyguard has been very much in evidence, standing discreetly alongside the prince and his new wife[Photo:NZ Herald]
 

The Duchess of Cornwall has always had one, as does the Duchess of Cambridge who has become extremely close to her, mother‑of‑one Emma Probert, who has been with her for a number of years.

It took a little while to find a woman for the job with Harry and Meghan, but the new senior female police officer, who has the rank of Inspector, has replaced the prince's long‑standing head of security, Sergeant Bill Renshaw, who retired after more than 30 years in the force.

This week she has been very much in evidence, standing discreetly alongside the prince and his new wife. In Melbourne on Thursday she kept a watchful eye over pregnant Meghan as she undertook a huge public walkabout.

As the duchess shook hands, posed for photographs and collected dozens of bunches of flowers and gifts, she cut an unusually glamorous figure for a police officer, in black culottes and beige heels, a smart black jacket and striped top concealing the gun that most protection officers normally carry.

Her long, blonde hair was artfully twisted and clipped from her face. And on Friday she was dressed down in flat pumps while she oversaw operations on Bondi Beach as the couple met surfers.

But a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said they could confirm that there are a number of female officers working within the Royalty and Specialist Protection Command, including an inspector currently working in Australia.

[Source: NZ Herald]