Prince Harry’s fight for improved security in the U.K. has taken another turn.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, lost his initial bid to appeal the verdict of the U.K. High Court’s ruling regarding the level of security he can receive when visiting his home country, but he is still able to ask to challenge the decision directly. He was also ordered to pay 90 percent of the Home Office’s legal costs of defending his request.
“The Duke of Sussex will be seeking permission from the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision of Mr. Justice Lane,” the law firm Schillings told Us Weekly in a statement on Monday, April 15, following the development in the case.
Harry initially announced his plans to appeal the verdict after High Court Judge Peter Lane ruled in February that the British government has the right to dictate the level of security granted to non-working royals in the U.K.
In Lane’s 51-page ruling, the judge deemed that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec)’s decision was neither irrational nor unfair.
“The Duke of Sussex will appeal today’s judgment which refuses his judicial review claim against the decision-making body Ravec, which includes the Home Office, the Royal Household and the Met Police,” a legal spokesperson for Harry said in a statement to The Telegraph in February.
The statement asserted that Harry “is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of Ravec’s own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with Ravec’s own written policy.”
Harry’s U.K. security battle began after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, announced in January 2020 that they planned to step down from royal duties. The couple subsequently lost the public-funded security privileges they maintained while acting as working royals after moving to California later that year. (Harry and Meghan, 42, are the parents of son Prince Archie, 4, and daughter Princess Lilibet, 2.)
In January 2022, Harry applied for a judicial review into the ability to personally fund police protection for his family during visits to England. “While his role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the royal family has not. Nor has the threat to him and his family,” a spokesperson for Harry shared in a statement at the time.
The statement continued: “The U.K. will always be Prince Harry’s home and country he wants his wife and children to be safe in. With the lack of police protection, comes too great a personal risk. Prince Harry hopes that his petition — after close to two years of pleas for security in the U.K. — will resolve this situation.”
Prior to the High Court’s February ruling, Harry lost his legal bid to offer to pay for his family’s U.K. protection. The British government’s team reportedly argued in court that the police should be readily available to the public and not serve as “private bodyguards for the wealthy.”
Despite Harry’s failed attempts to receive more protection across the pond, the New York Police Department announced in February that he and Meghan would be granted extra security during future visits to New York City after they were involved in a May 2023 car chase in Manhattan. The NYPD also revealed that enough evidence had been gathered for two arrests to be made for the incident.
