Trump’s state visit to the UK cost police £18m, four times as much as the royal wedding’s security
US president Donald Trump's visit to the UK in July cost police almost £18m, four times the cost of the security of the royal wedding, it was revealed today.
Nearly 10,000 officers across the country worked more than 26,000 shifts during the four-day trip that ignited protests in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
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Sara Thornton, chairwoman of the National Police Chiefs' Council, said that most forces had to cancel officers’ rest days and extend the lengths of staff's shifts.
Policing costs for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding were expected to be between £2m and £4m, according to police estimates at the time.
President Trump's state visit came at a time of hot weather in the UK, while the World Cup and various festivals put further pressure on police forces.
Trump largely avoided big cities due to protests and visited Prime Minister Theresa May at Chequers, met the Queen at Windsor Castle for tea and attended a dinner at the ancestral home of Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
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Protesters heckled the president at his golf course in Scotland on the final day of his trip. In London tens of thousands of protesters gathered in London as a balloon depicting Trump as a giant baby flew over Westminster, while another took to the skies above Edinburgh.
Prior to the visit, the Police Federation had warned that it would put "unquestionable pressure" on UK police forces.
Pictures of rows of camp beds arranged for police officers during the operation circulated on social media before alternative accommodation was found.