£5m to police royal wedding as Met chiefs tackle stalkers and terrorism threat

Royal guard: Scotland Yard has already started planning the big day
12 April 2012

The cost of security and policing the royal wedding is expected to cost up to £5 million, it was estimated today.

Scotland Yard today began planning for the event which will see thousands of officers lining the streets of the capital.

There was relief among senior ranks that the wedding was not being held at St Paul's Cathedral, which would have meant a much longer processional route from Buckingham Palace.

Insiders expect a more low-key event than the wedding of Charles and Diana but point out that this ceremony will be held at a time of heightened terror risk.

The cost of policing will soar because the day of the wedding has been declared a holiday. Police officers are entitled to double pay if they work on bank holidays.

Senior officers will plan for every possible contingency, ranging from a terrorist attack to the more likely possibility of an incident involving a lone stalker.

A specialist squad will already be checking out individuals who have displayed obsessions with members of the royal family.

If any of them are thought to be a risk they will be visited at home days before the wedding and warned about their behaviour.

Thousands of police officers from across London will line the route of the procession and flood the streets around Westminster Abbey. In addition, armed officers will be posted on rooftops as a precaution.

Dozens of protection officers will also be involved in providing security for visiting foreign royals and heads of state who will be invited. Sources say the security operation for the wedding could be compared to the policing of the recent Pope's visit, which cost about £2 million.

But the costs of providing security at the wedding have already been questioned by one member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the board that oversees the Met.

Green politician Jenny Jones called for a compromise which could see the royal family contributing to the cost of policing. She said: "In this age of austerity, it's unrealistic to expect the taxpayer to pay millions of pounds."

How the Queen can pay for this wedding

The Queen's official finances may be under strain after years of frozen grants and increasing palace maintenance bills but she still has huge personal wealth to fall back on to pay for the wedding.

The latest estimate of the Queen's worth from Forbes magazine estimated the total at almost £350 million.

Much of this is tied up in her private estates, Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle. But she also has personal jewellery, art and stamp collections and a substantial blue-chip share portfolio.

Another option is to use income from The Duchy of Lancaster, which last year made a net surplus of £13.2 million.

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