Prince Harry is ‘putting reconciliation with King Charles at risk’ by fighting government to get taxpayer-funded security, insiders claim

Prince Harry’s renewed battle with the government over the need for taxpayer-funded security could risk derailing any chances of a reconciliation with the King.

On Friday, the 41-year-old Duke of Sussex asked the Home Secretary to increase security.Royal source says new plea ‘complicates matters for King’ Times.

Currently, Harry has ‘bespoke’ cover on a case-by-case basis when he visits the UK after losing automatic 24/7 security after stepping back from royal life in 2020.

He has since made a formal request to the Executive Committee for the Protection of the Royal Family and Public Personalities and wrote to Shabana Mahmood shortly after his appointment.

‘This won’t help matters,’ the source said. ‘We are back to our old ways.’

In September, Harry met his father for the first time in 19 months over a 50-minute tea at Clarence House.

This came after he requested reconciliation with his family after losing a legal battle with the government in May.

The royal source added: ‘The King cannot and will not lobby, it is inappropriate. His representatives cannot defend policy outcomes, especially regarding his own family.

Prince Harry seeks reconciliation with family after losing legal battle with government in May

‘Royal family representative on the Royal and VIP executive committee [Ravec]He is not there to defend the position of a member of the royal family, overseen by the Home Office. They’re just there to liaise with the household.’

Despite moving to the US and stepping back from royal public engagements, Harry said the decision to cancel his security check was ‘hard to swallow’.

Following his appeal, he said he ‘couldn’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK’.

The 41-year-old called on Keir Starmer to intervene and warned that the royal family’s power over security meant it could be ‘used to control’ family members.

He also said he would ask then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to ‘look at this very, very carefully’.

But a source close to the Duke said last week that he had asked Ravec for a risk assessment along with his letter to Mahmood.

Ravec, whose members include the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police and members of the royal family, oversees the level of protection provided to the royal family and prominent public figures in the UK.

While the prince was attending the WellChild Awards on September 9, a female stalker reportedly entered the ‘secure zone’ at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in west London.

He reportedly hid in a hotel toilet “muttering strange comments” about the Duke just 20 minutes before arriving at a charity event.

He was allegedly photographed next to his car after being kicked out.

Just two days later he was seen alongside the prince at the Center for Blast Injury Studies.

The woman is believed to have followed Harry around the world, including on a three-day trip to Nigeria with the Duchess of Sussex in May 2024.

The letter the prince sent before the two events last month.