On Wednesday morning, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, made a short visit to a Fijian market where she was supposed to meet with women involved in a project to sell their wares to earn an income for their families. But the 15-minute scheduled visit was cut even shorter over a supposed security threat that Kensington Palace decided was too great to risk.
Now Ken Wharfe, Princess Diana’s former security guard, has explained exactly what could have caused the scare for Meghan, and why her security rushed her out of there, per Express UK .
According to Wharfe, the real problem is that there was a lack of proper preparation ahead of Harry and Meghan’s tour, and her security detail wasn’t adequately prepared ahead of her trip to the market. Given the high temperatures in Fiji at the time of the couple’s visit and the fact that the duchess is pregnant, Wharfe feels she should never have been allowed into such a confined area with such big crowds waiting for her.
“I think Kensington Palace was right to say there was cause for concern. My view is that these visits are always difficult to police. I think what we have to keep in mind here is that this was their first major visit to Australia and the South Pacific and one has to rely on the planning beforehand. This was in their schedule and there should have been an understanding that this would be packed with people – and Royals like to meet locals. Having looked at the footage there should have been a defined entry and exit with either some rope or some barriers and additional security. What happened, in the end, was total confusion with nobody even the security there really unsure as to where to go.”
As the Inquisitr previously reported, Meghan spent just six minutes at the market before being rushed away by her agitated female security officer. The crowds at the market were much bigger than had been anticipated, with some locals even going so far as to climb onto nearby roofs in an effort to catch a glimpse of the duchess.
Despite her security’s obvious concern for her safety, Meghan did her best to keep her winning smile fixed in place, greeting as many vendors as she could as she was all but frog-marched out of the market to her waiting car. She was slightly flustered by the chaos and the rushed walk through the market by the time she climbed back into the car.
The decision to leave the market early came directly from Kensington Palace, who cited “crowd management issues” in their reasoning for cutting the visit short. They further added that the market visit had only been an extension of her visit to the High Commissioner’s Residence where she had tea and learned about the Markets For Change project that seeks to empower women and youth. The Palace also stated that she had met everyone she was supposed to on her short visit to the market.
