Prince Harry ‘wins fight’ to regain automatic armed security when visiting UK
Prince Harry has reportedly won the right to automatic armed police protection when he and his family visit the UK after a protracted high-profile legal battle.
In May last year, the Duke of Sussex lost his case against the royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec) over the decision to strip him of taxpayer-funded police protection after he stepped down as a working member of the royal family.
But the 41-year-old wrote to home secretary Shabana Mahmood in September after a stalker who had previously made online threats was able to get within a “stone’s throw” of the Duke during his recent visit to London.
As a result, Ravec, overseen by the Home Office, launched a new risk assessment and is said to have determined that the King’s youngest son met the threshold for official protection.
according to mail on sundayA source close to Sussex said: “This is now a formality. Sources at the Home Office have stated that security has now been tightened for Harry.”
Under current rules the Duke must notify the Metropolitan Police 30 days before arriving in the UK to submit to a security review, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
As a result, he and his lawyers argued that it was unsafe for him, his wife Meghan, and their two young children, Lilibet and Archie, to visit the country after their 24-hour security was lifted in 2020.
After losing his case in May, the duke said he was “devastated” and described the defeat as “an old-fashioned establishment strut” and blamed the Royal Family for influencing the decision.
Asked if he had asked the King to intervene in the security dispute, Prince Harry said: “I never asked him to intervene – I asked him to step aside and let the experts do their job.”
Ravec consists of members of the Metropolitan Police, the royal family and Home Office security officers advising an independent president.
During a visit to WellChild, a children’s charity, in September, Harry was given a day of police protection, at which point a female stalker was able to access the “safe zone”.
During a subsequent trip to Imperial College London two days later, he tried to approach her but was allegedly only prevented from doing so by a member of the duke’s private security team.
With Harry’s safety restored, this could pave the way for a reunion between the King and his California-raised grandchildren, which he has not seen since the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in February 2022.
A spokesman for Sussex declined to comment on “security matters”.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK government’s safeguarding system is stringent and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information about these arrangements because doing so could compromise their integrity and impact the safety of individuals.”
