Prince Harry opens door to royal reconciliation: ‘No point continuing to fight’

His remarks came shortly after he lost an appeal against the UK government’s decision to remove his publicly funded police protection. On Friday, the Court of Appeal in London ruled that the decision to treat his security on a case-by-case basis when he visits the UK was reasonable and not legally unfair.

“I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point,” he said after the court defeat, adding the ruling made it “impossible” for him to return with his family.

“For the time being, it’s impossible for me to take my family back to the UK safely. I will continue on with a life of public service. So I will always support the charities and the people that mean so much to me,” he said.

Harry described the ruling as a “good old fashioned establishment stitch up” and claimed he felt “let down,” blaming the Royal Household for influencing the decision to reduce his security.

“I love my country, I always have done, despite what some people in that country have done. I miss the UK, I miss parts of the UK. Of course I do. And I think that’s it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”

Asked whether he had asked his father, King Charles, to intervene in the dispute, Harry said: “I never asked him to intervene — I asked him to step out of the way and let the experts do their jobs.”

The prince said his treatment during the process of deciding his security had “uncovered my worst fears”.

His legal complaint centred on the actions of the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures committee (Ravec), which oversees decisions about security for the Royal Family on behalf of the Home Office. Harry argued that under Ravec’s own procedures, his case should have been reviewed by the Risk Management Board (RMB), but that didn’t happen.

On Friday, senior judges acknowledged that the committee had diverged from standard policy in its 2020 decision regarding Harry’s protection, but concluded that this had been “sensible” due to the complexity of his circumstances.

“From the Duke of Sussex’s point of view, something may indeed have gone wrong but that does not, of itself, give rise to a legal complaint,” said Justice Geoffrey Vos. He added that Harry’s legal team had made “powerful and moving arguments,” but said they did not meet the threshold to overturn the decision.

Harry had argued that he and his family face serious safety risks while in the UK, due to online threats and intense media attention. His lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, told the court, “There is a person sitting behind me who is being told he is getting a special bespoke process, when he knows and has experienced a process that is manifestly inferior in every respect.”