Inside the secret life of a royal bodyguard – from funny code names for Kate & Wills to their impressive weapons arsenal
BEHIND every senior royal stands a bodyguard. Discreet, vigilant, armed, and ready to spring into action, these highly trained special ops police officers know that if things go pear-shaped, the buck stops with them.
The idea that they would jump in front of a bullet to protect the person they are guarding, however, is fanciful, according to SAS: Who Dares Wins Chief Instructor, Billy Billingham, a former close protection bodyguard whose clients included Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and several high-profile diplomats.
“If you take a bullet, you’re out of the game and your client is going to get it as well. A decent bodyguard will avoid getting in that situation,” he tells Fabulous.
“They will do whatever it takes to protect a client. Running in front of a bullet is not going to keep anyone safe. You shield them from the problem which might mean getting injured indirectly but you won’t purposely jump in front of a bullet.”
This is just one of the misconceptions about the role of Royal Protection Officers, some of whom were trained by the SAS in everything from demeanour, etiquette, surveillance, third-party awareness, profiling and evasive driving.
Much of a royal bodyguard’s job involves meticulous planning. Protection officers spend weeks planning a royal visit and months planning a royal tour in which locations are scouted, people are security vetted and local threats are assessed.
There are medical contingencies to consider as well. Royal bodyguards must always know the closest medical facility and the three most effective routes to get there.
Billy continues: “The biggest misconception is that bodyguards are hulking V-shaped blokes with earpieces and sunglasses. It’s not about image. It’s about what’s in your head, it's about planning and avoiding a situation. It’s about being a leader.”
The job comes with a huge weight of responsibility, which is why last year the Princess of Wales’ bodyguard, Sergeant Emma Probert, was awarded the Royal Victorian Order by Prince William in recognition of her service to the royal household.
If you take a bullet, you’re out of the game and your client is going to get it as well. A decent bodyguard will avoid getting in that situation.
Billy Billingham
Martial arts trained Emma, sometimes mistaken for a royal nanny, carries a 9mm Glock pistol and a Taser stun gun and is so close to Princess Kate that she was in the front seat of the Rolls Royce that took her to her 2011 wedding.
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Emma and Scotland Yard’s other royal bodyguards are part of the Royalty Protection Group, codenamed S014. The unit is made up of senior police officers and was formed in 1983. It comprises somewhere between 110 and 185 officers and is split into three sections.
Uniformed officers look after the physical security of the royal palaces, royal protection officers are responsible for personal security and the special escort group comprises motorcycle outriders who provide protection when royals travel.
Senior officers are assigned to specific members of the household and are supported by others. There will always be a minimum of one protection officer with a member of the royal family, but the protection team is increased according to threat and risk.
King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla and the Cambridge family have round-the-clock protection and the monarch also has a corridor officer based outside his bedroom door.
Bodyguards also monitor an array of technology strategically placed around Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle which includes hi-tech cameras, security beams and pressure pads.
Royal bodyguards choose code names for the people they are protecting – known as principals in bodyguard lingo. Royal couples are given code names with the same initials. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were David Stevens and Davina Scott. Before they were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were Danny Collins and Daphne Clark. The code names are used in bodyguard’s contacts lists in case their phones are stolen or hacked.
Former royal protection officer Simon Morgan explained that one of the biggest challenges for him was looking after Princes William and Harry when they were younger.
He explained: “We would ask them about their plans for the weekend and like a lot of young people they would say ‘dunno yet, waiting on a call’. And then you get the phone call from them. ‘I’m going out’. Okay, where are you going? ‘Don’t know yet but we need to head west’. You are wandering out, not 100 percent knowing where you are going.”
He said that the main threats to the royals are anti-monarchists, protesters and ‘fixated individuals who want to do harm’ and ‘only have to get it right once’.
One of the biggest challenges for all bodyguards guarding high profile principals is the ‘walkabout’ to meet fans.
Billy, who is currently on a UK tour with his Always a Little Further live show, explains that planning is key but that once you are with the crowds you have to be flexible.
He says: “You look around, you may see a bunch of people who are over excited so you guide your client away from them. You try to avoid taking them into a problem. You must think ahead and read the crowd, understand behaviour and know the signs to look for.
“When I was with Angelina for example, I’d know that people were there because they love her, and they should be smiling and happy. I’d always spot the one person who didn’t look happy, who didn’t have the right body language. In that situation I’d signal to the other security or guide Angelina away from that potential threat without her even knowing about it. You have to look for the unusual in the usual.”
And selfies create some of the biggest headaches.
“It’s about positioning,” reveals Billy. “You have to ask your client that if they do allow selfies, not to lean into the person taking it. I put myself in a position where if I needed to I could smash their arms down and move my client away. If there was something that I didn’t like I would move the client away and they understood I did it because I saw something they didn’t. There has to be trust.”
It is also important to have a close relationship with the person you are guarding, but to not overstep the line, continues Billy, who says 2018’s TV drama Bodyguard gave a ‘bullsh*t’ representation of what the job entails. Bodyguards need to know all about their principals, from their allergies and medical history to their physical capabilities, their views on certain issues and how they might react to certain situations.
“There has to be a professional line,” says Billy, “you can’t get complacent, but you have to have a good relationship and get to know how they think.”
Some relationships between royals and their bodyguards have caused controversy. Princess Diana was so close to her bodyguard, Barry Mannakee, that she once suggested he was her ‘greatest love’. He looked after her between 1984 and 1986 and was reportedly moved from his post over fears that he and the princess had grown too close. In 1987, he died in a motorbike accident and Diana later said she believed he had been "bumped off".
But not all Royal Protection Officers get on with their principals.
Paul Page guarded Prince Andrew when he was in 2O14 and didn’t hold back on what he thought of The Queen’s favourite son, revealing in interviews that Andrew’s bed in Windsor was covered in teddy bears and that maids were given a laminated photo to show exactly how they should be arranged.
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If the teddies were not placed exactly, Prince Andrew would ‘shout and scream’, alleged Paul. He also described the royal as ‘obnoxious’ and ‘an angry individual’ who would ‘fly off the handle’ and ‘be verbally abusive’ to staff and bodyguards.
It is safe to assume he was one bodyguard who would be reluctant to take a bullet for his charge.
