LONDON: More than $7 million (around INR 59 crore) will be shelled out to beef up security for the Queen’s funeral on September 19. According to New York Post, protecting Queen Elizabeth’s funeral will be the most expensive single-day operation in UK history, costing over $7.5 million.
To secure the unprecedented number of foreign leaders, who are expected at the funeral on Monday, the British MI5 and MI6 intelligence agencies, London’s Metropolitan Police and the Secret Service will work together. “This is the biggest policing operation that the United Kingdom policing has ever undertaken,” New York Post quoted Simon Morgan, a former Royal security officer, as saying.
“When you look at the other events, they were big — the Prince and Prince of Wales’ wedding in 2011 was the biggest — but in comparison to this, you can’t compare it,” he said.
William and Kate’s 2011 wedding had heavy police deployment. According to New York Post, police costs for the 2011 wedding were an estimated $7.2 million.
London will be covered with heavy security — from marksmen and observers perched on rooftops and observation points to police dispersed among the crowd — with police and intelligence officers anticipating a “substantial threat of terrorism,” Morgan said.
The online new portal reports that parts of the city are already cordoned off and it’s likely that more streets will shut down ahead of the funeral.
Despite the fact that 750,000 people are expected to attend the funeral — considerably more than at Will and Kate’s wedding — Morgan, who currently oversees the London-based, private international security company Trojan Consultancy, predicted that London will essentially “shut down” for the late Queen’s memorial.
New York Post further reports that extremist environmental activist groups like Extinction Rebellion, which has been organising large-scale protests across England with the intention of obstructing daily life, are being closely monitored by British authorities.
Royal protection has also been given to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who lost their right to taxpayer-funded security when they quit their royal duties.
Most dignitaries planning to attend will likely take shared buses, but some, like President Biden, will make their own arrangements. (ANI)