Prince Harry is seeking a review of the decision by the Home Office to refuse him the ability to personally pay for police protection when he is in the UK.
Harry lost his taxpayer-funded police security after stepping back from royal duties in 2020 and moving to the United States. He argues that his private security team does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad, and wants to be able to ensure his family’s safety when they are visiting the UK.
The application for a judicial review follows an incident in London in July 2021 when Harry’s car was chased by photographers as he left a charity event. A representative for Harry says the legal claim was filed in September “to challenge the decision-making behind the security procedures, in the hopes that this could be re-evaluated for the obvious and necessary protection required”.
The Duke of Sussex wants to personally pay for police protection, “not to impose on the taxpayer”, the representative said. A statement released to the public said, “Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life. He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats.
“The UK will always be Prince Harry’s home and a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in. With the lack of police protection, comes too great a personal risk.”
Arguing that his private security team could not replicate the work of local police, with their access to local intelligence and legal jurisdiction, Harry offered to cover the costs of police protection when in talks with the Queen over his future role in January 2020, but the offer was dismissed.
Harry and Meghan’s seven-month-old daughter Lilibet has yet to meet her great-grandmother, the Queen, her grandfather, Prince Charles, or other members of the Royal Family.
Image: Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
This article first appeared on OverSixty.