Ladies, I think that the York girls are now accompanied by private security guards rather than Official Royal Protection Officers.
This means that the bills are not picked up by the taxpayers.
I also have to say that on the evidence reported here, the private security guards seem to be singularly inept. There are various levels of security guard - some are very good indeed, being well-trained ex policemen, some even with experience of working as Royal Protection officers in the past. As soon as I saw the photos the other night of Eugenie waiting in the open whilst transport was found, with the security 'guard' in the background, I knew that the 'guard' was no good at his job.
Similarly, if the reports are true about Beatrice ''snubbing a Thai Princess' because her 'bodyguard' barred the Thai royal's way to Beatrice'', then I feel that the bodyguard has a lot to learn about his work, which includes discretion and also 'people-handling' as well as the more obvious security aspects of the job. If Princess Beatrice did NOT want to meet the Thai Royal, then fair enough, but the matter should have been handled more discreetly by the bodyguard to prevent the story even making the press. This would involve the bodyguard checking BEFOREHAND who was attending [in the way that a Royal Protection Officer would have done] and then either faciliating access if that was what Princess Beatrice wanted, or taking steps to ensure that the Thai Princess was not seen publically either trying to access Princess Beatrice or making the request to do so.......
IMHO, on the evidence of the last few days, I think that the Yorks would be well-advised to find a different supplier of bodyguards.........
Alex