Dispute over security Prince Harry suffers legal defeat in police protection case
Prince Harry is in dispute with the British Home Office over his security arrangements. Now another court has handed down a clear verdict.
02.05.2025, 17:32
dpa
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- In the dispute over police protection for Prince Harry during visits to his home country, the son of British King Charles III has once again suffered a legal defeat.
- Prince Harry's "resentment" over the government's reduction of protective measures was not a sufficient "legal argument" for a ruling in the Prince's favor, said the responsible appeal judge in London on Friday.
- The decision was made by a committee of the Home Office.
Prince Harry (40) has suffered another defeat in court in the dispute with the British Home Office over the guarantee of his safety. The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Harry against a decision that he and his family would no longer automatically receive the same security status as the rest of the British royals when traveling to the UK.
The decision had been made by a Home Office committee. Harry's request to change this was rejected by a judge last year - he ruled that the decision was neither unlawful nor "irrational" and that there was no procedural unfairness. The appeal lodged by the prince has now also failed.
Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan (43) retired from the royal family five years ago and relinquished their royal duties. The two live in California with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Following various accusations, their relationship with the royal family is considered to have broken down.
The arguments of the younger son of King Charles III (76) were both powerful and moving, said the Court of Appeal judge. However, the feeling of disadvantage could not be turned into a legal argument to challenge the decision.
Harry worried about his family
The Department had argued that Harry was receiving bespoke arrangements. "It is important to emphasize that the decision was not that security arrangements as they previously existed would no longer be offered under any circumstances," a lawyer had said. Rather, it was that the safeguards would no longer be granted on the same basis because Harry's status had changed and he would be spending most of his time abroad.
Harry's lawyer had accused the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures of having made its decision to grant Harry less protection on the basis of an inadequate security analysis. As a result, Harry's children in the UK were not adequately protected. One argument was that Al-Qaeda had called for Harry's murder.
