Taylor Swift‘s police escorts during her ‘Eras Tour’ Wembley Stadium concerts this summer were approved after pressure from the Attorney general, the UK government’s top lawyer.
Initially, the idea was dismissed by the Metropolitan Police as they thought it would breach long-standing protocols as this type of taxpayer-paid security is only available to senior government officials and members of the royal family. However, The Times reports that Attorney-general Lord Harmer KC, was recruited to put extra pressure on the police force.
It is also reported that Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan were also advocating for greater security for Swift’s Wembley gigs, including a police escort for the singer.
Last week, The Sun reported that government intervention occurred after Swift’s mother and manager, Andrea, threatened to cancel the singer’s August London shows. This comes after the abandonment of her Vienna concerts due to a suicide bomb plot exposed by the CIA.
The ‘Midnights’ singer was set to play at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium on August 8,9 and 10 but event organiser Barracuda Music confirmed that it had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety”.
The Sun claimed that Cooper had cautioned that cancelling the UK shows in August would be “economically damaging and embarrassing.” The Home Secretary’s request for a police escort came shortly after a tragic stabbing incident at a Swift-themed dance class for infants in northern England.
In August Swift commented on the “devastating” cancellation of her three Vienna ‘Eras’ tour concerts after authorities foiled a terror plot targeting the shows. In a social media post, she wrote: “Walking onstage in London was a rollercoaster of emotions. Having our Vienna shows cancelled was devastating. The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows. But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
She continued: “I was heartened by the love and unity I saw in the fans who banded together. I decided that all of my energy had to go toward helping to protect the nearly half a million people I had coming to see the shows in London. My team and I worked hand in hand with stadium staff and British authorities every day in pursuit of that goal, and I want to thank them for everything they did for us. Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows.”
“In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely, and it is with great relief that I can say we did that,” she wrote.
In other Taylor Swift-related news, she donated a whopping US$5million to Feeding America for Hurricane Helene and Milton relief efforts.
This isn’t the first time that Taylor Swift has helped communities in need. Throughout the course of her career-spanning ‘Eras’ tour, the singer-songwriter has quietly made major donations to foodbanks across the US and UK.