After reporting several drone flyovers above their Hollywood Hills home to police, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are reportedly seeking to increase security efforts.
Drones have been flying as low as 20 feet above the couple’s property to take photographs of them and their young son Archie, the Daily Beast reported Wednesday. According to a source who spoke with the outlet, the pair has experienced “unimaginable” levels of press intrusion at their temporary residence, which is owned by Tyler Perry, and will hire and pay for their own security team to try and heighten their privacy.
At least five drone-related incidents have been reported to the Los Angeles Police Department’s nonemergency line. The drones are believed to be operated by paparazzi photographers, but, due to some incidents of racist targeting in the past, a friend of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they are forced to report any intrusion as possible terrorist threats.
“They see these drones coming in at them, and they guess that they are being operated by photographers, but they can’t just assume that. Meghan received racist death threats at the time of her wedding, so the terror threat is very real for them,” the friend said. “But, aside from that, imagine if you were in their shoes facing that, how that would feel? To have drones buzzing around 20 feet above your head when you are trying to play with your son?”
The couple has been disturbed by drones at least four times in the past week, with the most recently reported incident taking place on Memorial Day. The couple recently moved to Los Angeles after spending some time in Canada following the decision to step down as senior members of the British royal family.
