Prince Harry loses challenge over his police protection

A lawyer for Prince Harry had hallenged the British government’s decision to strip him of his security detail after he gave up his status as a working member of the royal family and moved to the United States.

By: Reuters

London | Updated: February 29, 2024 06:53 PM IST

2 min read

The Duke of Sussex has claimed that his safety is jeopardised in part because of hostility toward him and his family on social media and a relentless press that hounds him. (Photos/Instagram/@ sussexroyal)

Harry, King Charles’ younger son, had brought the action against the government at the High Court in London after the Home Office – the ministry responsible for policing – decided in February 2020 that he would cease to automatically receive personal police security while in Britain.

Harry, along with other senior royals, had received full publicly-funded security protection provided by the state before he stepped back from his royal duties and moved to California with his American wife Meghan in March 2020.

After being granted permission for a judicial review of that decision, his lawyers told a hearing in December that the decision to take this away subjected him to unlawful, unfair and unjustifiable treatment.

But the government’s legal team said Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as RAVEC, had not decided Harry should not receive protection, but that he should not have it on the same basis.

The High Court agreed, concluding that there had been no unlawfulness in the decision.

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