Just call me Harry. (Everything Harry & Meghan)

[canbelto]

This is a bit off topic but it sounds like you might know - how do VIPs get their luggage back after a flight?!

They have an assistant pick up their bags.

 

[Barbara Manatee]

Or the airline tags the VIP bags and stows them where they can be pulled out and handed off straight away on landing, like they do with strollers and gate-checked bags.

 

[Parsley Sage]

On his last few trips to the UK, Harry has been seen leaving the Private Suite (PS) terminal at LAX when he returned home. They would look after collecting his bags for him.

PS reimagines the airport experience

PS reimagines the airport experience for the seasoned and discerning traveler

reserveps.com

Heathrow has a similar service

https://www.heathrowvip.com/s/

 

[antmanb]

I found out today that private security cannot carry guns in the UK. In the US Harry's protection includes guns. I just read that Harry said that's why private security will not be good enough for him to put his family at risk. A risk he inherited at birth unlike other famous people.

99% of security is planning and logistics, actual combat or use of weapons would mean the security people have screwed up. Firearms are not legal in this country and the majority of the illegal firearms are used by criminal gangs. Your average social media keyboard warrior is not going to be able to obtain a gun and any member of the police force who discharges a weapon over here needs to make a lot of justifications for it.

So much so that every account of Royal Protection detail discharging a weapon is noted - it's happened twice in recent history and once was an accidental discharge.

The Queen has no real power. She can’t just order the police to protect Harry, she can’t even order the government to order the police to do it. It’s all laid out in the constitution and laws and changing it isn’t easy. She can ask, she can offer to pay, and we don’t know if she has done that. But she can’t demand.

It most certainly isn't! We don't have a constitution in this country.

 

[MacMadame]

It most certainly isn't! We don't have a constitution in this country.

You are a constitutional monarchy. Also:

https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-committees/political-and-constitutional-reform/The-UK-Constitution.pdf

 

[puglover]

When I was in the shopping centre today in Canada, almost every magazine had a member of the royal family on the cover. Most are American publications. Some were meant to be kind and informative - some not so as on the supposed affair of Prince William and further speculation of what Kate has done about it. I can't see the royal family going anywhere in a very long time as long as interest and intrigue in them remains so strong. I love the Queen and will be sad if Canada drops the monarchy in my lifetime. Even the bad apples are keeping them relevant.

 

[morqet]

We have an uncodified constitution. Some parts are written or based on specific Acts of Parliament, some parts are tradition & convention, some parts are based in precedent and case law. You even end up with things like Walter Bagehot writing about "The English Constitution" in the 19th century, but that work effectively becoming part of the constitution itself because of the way it defines the relationship between the executive/legislature/judicary/monarchy.

So there is no one document that lays out what the Queen can & can't do. Her relationship with Parliament is mostly defined by C17th case law and parliamentary acts during the Restoration, but some of it goes back as far as Magna Carta, and other elements are just tradition that have evolved in the last couple of centuries. And there are things that technically, legally, she could do like withhold Royal Assent for a new Bill, but she never would because it would provoke a constitutional crisis.

 

[Lemonade20]

When I was in the shopping centre today in Canada, almost every magazine had a member of the royal family on the cover. Most are American publications. Some were meant to be kind and informative - some not so as on the supposed affair of Prince William and further speculation of what Kate has done about it. I can't see the royal family going anywhere in a very long time as long as interest and intrigue in them remains so strong. I love the Queen and will be sad if Canada drops the monarchy in my lifetime. Even the bad apples are keeping them relevant.

I agree, I would rather see the royals (especially Catherine & the Queen) on magazines over the Kardashians.

 

[kwanfan1818]

At least I recognize the royals over the years as they age. I stopped recognizing most of the people on the cover of People Magazine et al many decades ago.

 

[antmanb]

You are a constitutional monarchy. Also:

https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-committees/political-and-constitutional-reform/The-UK-Constitution.pdf

You literally linked to a document that says we don't have a codified constitution and setting out proposals (from 2015 which have not been adopted to date) about how to go about codifying a constitution.

 

[MacMadame]

You literally linked to a document that says we don't have a codified constitution and setting out proposals (from 2015 which have not been adopted to date) about how to go about codifying a constitution.

That's cool. I didn't read the whole thing. I just Googled UK constitution because I knew the UK was a constitutional monarchy and was confused.

ETA I thought the image was an image of the constitution but it looks like it was just a book cover?

 

[antmanb]

That's cool. I didn't read the whole thing. I just Googled UK constitution because I knew the UK was a constitutional monarchy and was confused.

ETA I thought the image was an image of the constitution but it looks like it was just a book cover?

Yes it’s a fancy glossy cover for a House of Commons proposal. A lot of those things look like prospectuses or marketing books.

 

[ballettmaus]

Two things just occured to me: is the police even allowed to accept private payment? How would that work with anti-corruption laws (if there are any in the UK)?

Who pays for the trial?

 

[antmanb]

Two things just occured to me: is the police even allowed to accept private payment? How would that work with anti-corruption laws (if there are any in the UK)?

No there is no provision to allow the police to be paid privately for their services. That is why IMO Prince Harry's case could set a dangerous precedent if he wins. I don't think anything has been made public but i'd be pretty sure that is one of reasons the Home Office refused to accept a situation where Prince Harry and his family would be under the met's protection at his private cost.

Who pays for the trial?

Prince Harry is seeking a judicial review of the decision made by the Home Office so he is bringing a claim against the Government. He is the claimant so he will bear the costs of bringing the claim unless he wins and then he will be entitled to claim back a proportion of the costs. The government will bear the cost of defending the claim and will equally be able to recoup a proportion of those costs if they are successful.

 

[MacMadame]

In the US, people often pay for off-duty police to serve as their security. Maybe that's something Harry could do.

My understanding of his request is that he wants the normal security his family had when they were last in the UK and has offered to reimburse the cost. This isn't exactly the same as hiring them but it's very much a gray area and I'm not surprised his offer was turned down.

 

[ballettmaus]

In the US, people often pay for off-duty police to serve as their security. Maybe that's something Harry could do.

My understanding of his request is that he wants the normal security his family had when they were last in the UK and has offered to reimburse the cost. This isn't exactly the same as hiring them but it's very much a gray area and I'm not surprised his offer was turned down.

Could off-duty police carry guns in the UK? (I'm under the impression that this is one of the issues).

 

[MacMadame]

Could off-duty police carry guns in the UK? (I'm under the impression that this is one of the issues).

He's been living in the US too long if he thinks guns are necessary. IMO.

 

[overedge]

This is a bit off topic but it sounds like you might know - how do VIPs get their luggage back after a flight?!

Heathrow has an entire separate area for VIPs (as most major airports do, I would guess) with its own building and pickup/dropoff places for passengers. I would guess that most real VIPs are flying in private planes, and their baggage goes with them in their own plane.

If the VIPs aren't VIP enough to have their own plane and they have to travel in business or first class on a commercial flight, their bags are tagged so that those get unloaded first and put on the conveyor belt first. As was mentioned upthread, the personal assistants probably pick up the bags and get them to their rightful owners.

 

[ballettmaus]

He's been living in the US too long if he thinks guns are necessary. IMO.

I agree but maybe he generally feels safer when his security is armed?

I'm also wondering if off-duty cops can provide security that his own security can't provide. Wouldn't they have about the same rights?

 

[mella]

Could off-duty police carry guns in the UK? (I'm under the impression that this is one of the issues).

No.

 

[MLIS]

I agree but maybe he generally feels safer when his security is armed?

I'm also wondering if off-duty cops can provide security that his own security can't provide. Wouldn't they have about the same rights?

I understand it’s two things. His private security is not allowed to carry guns in the UK, and they don’t have access to any intelligence the UK government or police might have about active or potential threats. He wants security that has/can do both.

 

[MacMadame]

I'm also wondering if off-duty cops can provide security that his own security can't provide. Wouldn't they have about the same rights?

Officially yes. But unofficially, at least in the US, if you hire off-duty cops, they can get at least some inside information depending on the circumstances. They also have more training than most security guards.

 

[once_upon]

Officially yes. But unofficially, at least in the US, if you hire off-duty cops, they can get at least some inside information depending on the circumstances. They also have more training than most security guards.

And at least according to my local police scanner, when the off duty police officer working as security calls 911 for assistance it's treated as an officer needs assistance and a "any and all available officers respond expeditiously"

Plus in my state, they have the appropriate permits to "carry".

 

[MacMadame]

And at least according to my local police scanner, when the off duty police officer working as security calls 911 for assistance it's treated as an officer needs assistance and a "any and all available officers respond expeditiously"

Plus in my state, they have the appropriate permits to "carry".

That's the sort of thing I was thinking of. Also, if you are on duty in the AM and hear about a threat to your employer, of course, you would report it to them. And also, your friends on the force would probably clue you in even if you were not working both jobs simultaneously.

 

[Lemonade20]

Lots of rumours about a divorce happening for H & M. From Twitter

 

[MacMadame]

Lots of rumours about a divorce happening for H & M. From Twitter

I fully expect them to get divorced at some point (and thought that from the moment they got engaged tbh), but I don't find this rumor very credible. The dig that Meghan is shopping for a rich man reeks of pettiness and a desire to hurt her.

 

[Lemonade20]

I fully expect them to get divorced at some point (and thought that from the moment they got engaged tbh), but I don't find this rumor very credible. The dig that Meghan is shopping for a rich man reeks of pettiness and a desire to hurt her.

You're right, there's a lot of talk but nothing really confirmed. They don't seem to look or act happy anymore.

 

[JJH]

I hope Harry and Meghan have a happy marriage. I hope everybody has a happy marriage, but it's hardly unusual if they don't. Princess Margaret got divorced. Prince Charles got divorced. Prince Andrew got divorced. Princess Anne got divorced. Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips got divorced. Divorce is really very ordinary.

 

[MacMadame]

They don't seem to look or act happy anymore.

Based on what?

 

[millyskate]

There are just as many rumours about them planning a third child. They've been out of the public eye for a while so people will likely make anything up.