What Prince Harry’s personal protection will look like from now on and who will fund it?
The Royal Family member has lost his appeal regarding his personal police protection.
Prince Harry’s legal challenge launched against the government’s decision to revoke his automatic high-level police protection in the UK has been unsuccessful.
His legal team contended that he was unfairly targeted and subjected to less favourable treatment, asserting that the decision meant he would no longer receive enough personal protective security during his visits.
However, in the 51-page ruling on Wednesday, which was partly redacted, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the case from the Duke of Sussex, ruling that the decision to change his security status was not unlawful or “irrational”, and that there had been no “procedural unfairness”.
Will Prince Harry’s security change?
The Home Office maintained that his security would continue to be publicly funded but through ‘bespoke arrangements, specifically tailored to him’, instead of the automatic protection given to full-time working royals. The ruling found that the setup from Ravec, (the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, who works on orders from the Home Office and organise the security for the Royals) “was, and is, legally sound”.
The judge said that “even if such procedural unfairness occurred, the court would in any event be prevented from granting the claimant [Prince Harry] relief. This is because, leaving aside any such unlawfulness, it is highly likely that the outcome for the claimant would not have been substantially different.”
Harry lives in California with wife Meghan and their children; he visits the UK periodically and his last trip came earlier in the year when King Charles was diagnosed with cancer.
The Duke has been involved in a series of legal cases including libel and phone hacking from The Mail on Sunday and The Daily Mirror, respectively. The ruling could well have implications for Harry’s future visits to the UK as he had previously said that lowering the level of security would make it difficult for him to bring his family to the country.
Complete your personal details to comment
Your opinion will be published with first and last names