A man accused of trespassing twice at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Californian mansion has admitted he may have been “high” at the time.
Nickolas Brooks, 37, allegedly drove 2,300 miles across America from Ohio to Harry and Meghan’s home in Montecito.
He told The Sun newspaper: “I think I was high at the time.
“I don’t know why I went to their place, that’s kind of where I ended up. I drove across the country – I know it’s crazy.”
Brooks was arrested by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies on St Stephen's Day – two days after he was first given a warning on Christmas Eve for trespassing on the property.
The Sun revealed that Brooks, who said he was warned to stay away from Harry and Meghan’s home but does not need to appear in court, was previously jailed in 2005 for taking part in an assault.
Harry and Meghan raised security as one of their major concerns in their bombshell Oprah interview.
The duchess said she wrote letters pleading with Harry’s family not to take away his personal protection officers, warning he was facing death threats.
Harry said he never thought he would have his security detail removed upon deciding to step back from royal duties.
He said: “I was born into this position. I inherited the risk. So that was a shock to me.”
The duke – who inherited nearly £7 million (€8.2 million) from his mother Diana, Princess of Wales which will have grown with interest – said his family “literally cut me off financially” in the first quarter of 2020 and he went for the couple’s Netflix and Spotify deals to pay for his security.
Harry and Meghan lost their police protection – which was paid for by the British taxpayer and carried out by the Metropolitan Police – after they decided to quit as senior working royals, stop carrying out royal duties and stay in the US.
The duchess said their son Archie was not made a prince because of his race and this meant he would not be entitled to security.
But Archie is not entitled to be a prince because of rules set down by King George V more than 100 years ago, and a title does not automatically mean a member of the royal family receives police protection.
