Ex-home secretary Dame Priti Patel has apologised to the King for causing “embarrassment and difficulties” after reportedly sending an email suggesting a review of the Duke of York’s armed security.
According to reports, Andrew no longer has taxpayer-funded police protection after giving up his HRH style amid the furore over his association with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and out-of-court settlement in a US civil sex case.
The Sun newspaper reported Dame Priti emailed Charles’s principal private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, suggesting a review of the duke’s protection could be considered.
She also referred to the Duke of Sussex’s security detail in the leaked email, the paper said.
Dame Priti told the newspaper: “It is disappointing that this correspondence has been leaked into the public domain and I apologise to His Majesty for the embarrassment and difficulties the publishing of this correspondence has caused.”
Andrew stepped away from public life after a controversial Newsnight interview in November 2019.
Virginia Giuffre also sued him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein.
Andrew has always denied the claims but paid millions of pounds in an out-of-court settlement in the US civil case.
In January 2022, ahead of his legal settlement, his mother the Queen stripped Andrew of all of his honorary military roles, including Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, and he gave up his HRH style.
Buckingham Palace, Dame Priti and the Conservative Party have been approached for comment.
Related: Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘in fatal plane crash’ in Russia
