As senior members of the royal family, the typical working days of Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle are often carried out in the public eye.
Whether they are embarking on one of the 2,000 engagements undertaken by the family on behalf of the Queen each year, an overseas tour, or a state dinner, there is always an element of threat that comes with the job.
One person who knows this all too well is former royal protection officer Simon Morgan, who worked as a bodyguard to the family from 2007 until 2013.
Morgan told Insider about the challenges that come with protecting the royal family from potential threats.
It can be easy to get swept up by the glamour of palace life — but this could compromise the royals' safety
Morgan says it's easy for royal staff members to get sucked into the extravagance of lifestyles like Harry and Markle's. However, this is something which will cause security issues if the behaviour gets in the way of the job.
"I was working in some of the not-nice parts of London, then all of a sudden I'm working for senior members of the royal family. I was working in different environments, from banquets to large scale events. It turned my career on its head," Morgan told Insider.
He explained that being exposed to "the best cars, yachts, and restaurants" can actually distract a bodyguard from providing the level of protection the royals need.
"That's the principal's life, not yours," he said. "And if you don't understand that, you will be compromised. There will be alarm bells."
The protection officers who accompanied Prince Harry on a trip to Las Vegas in 2012 were heavily criticized after failing to prevent party-goers from taking naked photos of the prince during a game of strip billiards.
The photos were eventually leaked to The Sun, as well as multiple other publications across the globe.
One anonymous person who attended the party said the officers "acted like a bunch of amateurs" who were "enjoying the party more than protecting the prince from himself," according to a report by the Evening Standard at the time.
'It's not about fighting, driving, shooting, or looking good in sunglasses'
Harry and Markle recently embarked on a 10-day tour of Africa with baby Archie, marking their first working visit as as a family.
According to Morgan, the amount of planning that goes into such visits means the couple could already be making arrangements with their security team for their next overseas trip.
"An overseas tour doesn't happen overnight," he said. "There are many, many months of planning, and a tour could have been in the timetable for several years.
"There's tremendous weight attached to tours that's not necessarily about the imagery you see. There are lots of things that go with that — as a protection officer you wear many different hats."
Morgan, who now works as the Director of Operations and Training at Trojan Consultancy, says planning is the most essential aspect of the role.
"The actual threat is constant and you have to factor in different things according to the principal," he said.
"For instance, children and an elderly person's needs are greater than most adults'. Different age groups need different medical contingencies put into the protection plan.
"If there's an underlying health condition, that should be factored in. What are the medical facilities offered at the nearby hospital [to the event]? Not all London hospitals have A&E facilities.
"If you were to follow me for a day, you would see countless meetings about planning, journeys, telephone calls, and more meetings that discuss how the journeys will work," he added.
"The media would love it to be exciting. Bodyguarding is a thought process, and you have to have that thought process.
"It's not about fighting, driving, shooting, or looking good in sunglasses. There's so much more to it than that."
Read more:
Insiders reveal what it's really like to work for the royal family
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