Princess Beatrice was first to spark private security row within the Royal Household

Prince Andrew's daughter, Princess Beatrice,  sparked a private security row within the Royal Household before the Duke of Sussex, a royal expert has claimed.

Richard Palmer, a journalist, has claimed Princess Beatrice's concerns about her own security were raised within the royal household long before Prince Harry.

Speaking on the Royal Round-Up, Palmer told host Pandora Forsyth that incidents surrounding Beatrice had sparked demands for taxpayer-funded security for even minor royals. This revelation comes nearly a week after Harry won an early victory in his court case against the Home Office.

"Prince Andrew's daughters, as far as we understand it, don't have taxpayer-funded security. They occasionally have bodyguards but they are privately funded, " the royal correspondent said.

"There was a case a while ago when Princess Beatrice was driving a car, and left the keys in the ignition when she popped into a shop. Maybe she wasn't used to being responsible for things like that at that point," Palmer explained.

He went on: "There was another case when Beatrice had her bag stolen on a beach once. I had a debate with someone in the royal household about this incident and they said to me 'This shows why they need taxpayer-funded security to protect them

"I countered that all sorts of people get mugged on a beach, and they can't get all have taxpayer-funded security with them.

"So the Home Office has to make a judgment, an assessment, about the risk, and they say it's done on a case-by-case basis."

He added: "What the Home Office doesn't want to do is open up a Pandora's Box where any high-profile wealthy person can say they want to pay for protection and they demand that the Home Office provide it."

Last Friday, a judge in London ruled that the Duke of Sussex's case can go to the High Court in London, meaning Harry will face off with the Home Office. Meghan Markle's hubby is fighting against a 2020 decision that denied his family police protection while in Britain after he and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down as senior working royals.