New concerning details about the couple's security chief have come to light. Photo / Getty Images
New concerning details about the couple's security chief have come to light. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new security chief has a dark past.
The Daily Mail has reported Alberto Alvarez – who previously worked for Michael Jackson's family - has a concerning past with the legal system.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are assumed to have appointed Alvarez to his top position earlier this year in May after he was seen cycling alongside the duke in Montecito, California.
The Daily Mail revealed that despite staying loyal to the Jackson family and being one of the first on the scene when the King of Pop passed away, Alvarez was fired after the family discovered he had past drink-driving charges and a domestic violence complaint against him, adding they felt something was "off" about him.
Huffington Post Celebrity, formerly known as PopEater, brought Alvarez's charges of DUI and domestic violence to light in 2010 before claiming the Jackson family fired the security chief "after they discovered he had a criminal record and no longer felt he should be near the family's large brood of children".
Alberto Alvarez was Michael Jackson's security guard and one of the first on the scene when the King of Pop died. Photo / Getty Images
The publication reported the family became suspicious of Alvarez as it took him two months after Jackson's death to tell LAPD that the singer's doctor Conrad Murray stopped performing CPR on him to hide vials of Propofol.
A source close to the family said, "When he started changing his stories, the estate decided to check him out. He not only had a DUI, but a domestic violence dispute on his record. Someone had filed a domestic complaint against Alvarez, and he also had a DUI arrest."
Court records obtained by the Daily Mail confirmed Alvarez was convicted of a DUI in 2009 with his blood alcohol level over 0.08. He was also driving without a licence.
They also found in an earlier case from 2000, he was given three years probation after being charged with felony domestic violence for "corporal injury to a spouse or intimate partner" and disturbing the peace.
He then had a second DUI in 2011 and served four years probation, eight days in LA County jail and an 18-month court-mandated counselling programme for DUI second-offenders.
After the second conviction, Alvarez began working for British boyband One Direction and at the time, he spoke to the media outlet, the People, where he said, "Working for the boys has pulled me through a terrible time."
The hire comes as a surprise to some royal fans as Prince Harry's late mother, Princess Diana, died in a drunk driver crash.
However, one source told the Sun, "Alberto has worked with the biggest celebrities so knows every trick in the book of keeping them out of harm's way.
"He is discreet and was extremely loyal to Michael. He and Harry seem like a good match, and Harry hopes he's the man to look after him and his family."
