Police reviewing protection for royals

LONDON, May 15 (UPI) -- A former Scotland Yard official has suggested cutting round-the-clock protection for junior members of Britain's royal family as a cost-cutting measure.

Law enforcement officials are grappling with ways to reduce the $76.2 million annual budget for royal security, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Concerns have been about the $168,000 security costs for Princess Eugenie, 19, the daughter of Prince Andrew, on top of the annual $427,000 for regular protection and funding for security measures for other members of the royal family.

Dai Davies, who once led the metropolitan police's Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Squad, said he thought it was "perfectly right" to question whether the security expense is justified "at a time when we are sending soldiers to Afghanistan who are not properly equipped? Why don't we give priority to those people who really do need protecting?"

"There could be factors that I do not know about, such as fixated people," Davies said. "But when I was running the squad there was no direct threat to these minor royals."

The bulk of the protection budget is for 24-hour armed guards on palaces, the British newspaper said. The protection level for members of the royal family and associated costs are monitored and reviewed annually by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee.