Beating The Fear Of Assassination

Former royal protection officer Steve Park said Mr Obama and his family would face ever-increasing security levels now he is the President-elect.

He told Sky News Online: "There was a virtual wall of glass around him that would have stopped armour-piercing bullets, but I thought they were clever.

"On television it was hard to see, and I would have expected there to be a lot more security bodies out there.

"But there would have been several hundred in the wings, and a ring of steel around the park, and maybe a thousand more on standby.

"It was cleverly done, but there's no way he'll be able to have that kind of meeting that close to the public again, because people can plan for it.

"I don't think his family understand the kind of security they will now face. He will have some say in it, but not a lot.

"There will be pressure groups that don't get what they want that will see him as a target.

"There's something of the Kennedy factor about him... the idea that he is this jewel in the crown, and the security around him will have to be at the top of their game.

"When he came to the UK last they were doing things like having three helicopters flying between Windsor and Heathrow, any of which he might have been on, and then having him go by road."