Campaigners call for transparency after police force claims it doesn't know how much policing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding will cost taxpayers.
Thames Valley Police have been accused of ducking the question on the cost of policing next month’s royal wedding, after the force claimed they did not know the figure.
In response to a Freedom of Information Request on how much staff time and resources would be used to police Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, Thames Valley Police said:
“There is no specific budget code for this event and therefore no information is held.”
The claim was made despite the force having an entire section on its website dedicated to ‘Policing the Royal Wedding’.
In a video, Assistant Chief Constable Dave Hardcastle said: “Planning is well underway for a successful policing operation. The wedding is a national celebration…
“A broad range of visible security measures are already in place, such as automatic number plate recognition, CCTV and hostile vehicle mitigation barriers. There are also a whole range of security measures that are not visible.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding cost more than £6m to police, according to FoIs by the Press Association.
Recent estimates suggested Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding at Windsor Castle could cost taxpayers as much as £24 million, given voters are footing the entire security bill.
Graham Smith, CEO of campaign group Republic, told Left Foot Forward:
“It’s hard to believe the police haven’t calculated the additional costs they’ll be hit with by the royal wedding.
“They’ve announced a major security operation in May: someone, somewhere in Thames Valley Police must have crunched the numbers. Now they need to tell the taxpayers what those numbers are.”
Thames Valley Police did not respond to requests for comment.
When will taxpayers find out how much they’re coughing up?
Josiah Mortimer is Editor of Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter.
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