Tight security planned for Boston Royal visit

This week’s visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Boston will bring international star power to the area for three full days.

Highlights of the trip include a Welcome event Wednesday at City Hall Plaza with Mayor Wu and Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, a trip to Dorchester’s JFK Presidential Library,  and finally, Friday’s headliner: the Earthshot Prize Awards at the MGM Music Hall in Fenway.

It’s a jam-packed schedule sure to bring out crowds and test Boston’s security preparedness.

Mayor Michelle Wu says the city is ready.

“Most of all it’s exciting to highlight Boston as a place of innovation, we are fundamentally a city of problem solvers. And have been since, 400 years ago ensuring we can chart the course for a better future for all of us,” Mayor Wu said.

Security around the Royals will be tight.

“The task is keeping the event so that the Prince and Princess and the entourage, their kids if they decide to bring them with them, can do what they want to do, meet the public, make their presentations, receive the honors and awards they’re going to receive, and at the same time, the crowds that want to see them, will have the ability to do that,” former Boston Police Chief Dan Linksey said.

To do all of this will require enormous planning and cooperation across several layers of security.

The Royals will bring their own security with them from the UK to work with the US Secret Service. Both of those agencies will work with State and Local Police.

From the Royals’ own security team, to the Secret Service, to Mass State Police, to Boston and other local law enforcement.

“There’s a playbook for this,” Linskey said. “And it’s just a matter of making sure the resources are there. The intelligence has been looked into.

With recent championship Parades, the Boston Marathon, major political events, Boston knows how to successfully manage huge crowds.

But it’s not always easy.

“The lesson is, it’s not about having the perfect plan, it’s about having a plan in process where you look and adjust for the challenges you find yourself with and the team figures out a solution,” Linskey said.

And if all that wasn’t enough, on Friday, President Joe Biden will fly to Boston for a political fundraiser.

It’s not known if the President of the United States will meet up with members of the British Royal family in Boston.

But whatever happens, security teams are ready.

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