Prince Harry’s royal protection officers cannot cross privacy ‘golden line’

By MARGARET DAVIS
Published on 11/09/2012 21:34

ROYAL protection officers guarding Prince Harry cannot intrude into his social life, Britain’s most senior policeman said yesterday.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe told MPs that police protecting high-profile individuals cannot cross “the golden line” by getting involved in their personal life.

He was questioned by Commons home affairs select committee chairman Keith Vaz about photographs of Prince Harry naked in a Las Vegas hotel room published on a celebrity gossip website last month.

Mr Hogan-Howe said: “We’re already in the process of reviewing that particular incident. Our role is to maintain the security of our protected individual. They have to lead a normal life and we have to strike a balance between intrusion into their life and keeping them safe.

“There is a golden line that cannot be crossed, which is getting involved in the social lives.”