Fifty gun cops are being recruited to guard William and Kate’s baby round the clock, The Sun can reveal.
The force responsible for the Queen’s estate at Sandringham does not have enough firearms officers to man all the shifts involved in 24-hour cover.
So it is seeking to attract experts from forces in other areas while also training up some of its own existing officers.
The huge increase in armed police would be needed to provide full-time security at the 20,000-acre estate in Norfolk, where a ten-bed property is tipped as the couple’s country home.
Speculation is rife that the young royals and baby Prince George will spend increasing amounts of time at 19th-century Anmer Hall, two miles from the main Sandringham House.
William’s stint as an RAF helicopter pilot in Wales ends in September and he may look to take up another military posting. If he moved to Norfolk he would, for example, be handy for the air base in neighbouring Suffolk where brother Harry is stationed.
A spokesman for Norfolk Constabulary said recruitment of firearms officers “remains open to both internal and external candidates”. Besides guarding Sandringham, the new cops will do other duties round the county.
Anmer Hall currently has a tenant in it but planning permission for a major overhaul — including re-routing the drive leading to it for added privacy — was granted in March.
-BBC