Prince Harry did not offer to pay for police protection when he visited the UK, the High Court heard as the Duke’s latest legal battle kicked off today.
The Home Office claimed his offer was ‘notably not advanced’ to the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) when he came for the Diana statue unveiling in June.
Lawyers for the department also slammed the Duke for ‘failing to afford the necessary measure of respect’ to Home Secretary Priti Patel and Ravec.
Meanwhile they warned him British police officers are not available for ‘personal protective security’.
The Home Office legal team told the Royal it was ‘irrelevant’ he offered to pay for them himself.
They also vowed to make him fork out for ‘excessive’ legal costs caused by the case – which experts warned could total up to £400,000.
The Duke’s legal team claimed he wants to return to the UK ‘to see family and friends’, adding: ‘Most of all, this is and always will be his home.’
Harry wants to return to the UK for the service of thanksgiving for his grandfather Philip which will be held at Westminster Abbey on March 29,
They said he wants to bring his children Archie and Lilibet and wife Meghan but he ‘does not feel safe’ under the current security arrangements.
His father Prince Charles and his grandmother the Queen have still not met Lilibet.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are pictured together in Brixton, south London in 2018
The Duke of Sussex wants to bring his children to visit from the US, but claims they are ‘unable to return to his home’ because it is too dangerous, his lawyer has said
Harry and Meghan (pictured in the UK in 2019) lost their taxpayer-funded police protection in the aftermath of quitting as senior working royals in early 2020
Introducing the case, Shaheed Fatima QC (pictured), for the duke, said: ‘This claim is about the fact that the claimant does not feel safe when he is in the UK given the security arrangements applied to him in June 2021 and will continue to be applied to him’
Lack of protection stops us coming to UK, says the Duke of Sussex: Statement in full
The full statement issued by a legal representative of Prince Harry about his legal action:
Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life. He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats.
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.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, yet that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the UK.
In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home.
The Duke first offered to pay personally for UK police protection for himself and his family in January of 2020 at Sandringham.
That offer was dismissed. He remains willing to cover the cost of security, as not to impose on the British taxpayer.
As is widely known, others who have left public office and have an inherent threat risk receive police protection at no cost to them.
The goal for Prince Harry has been simple – to ensure the safety of himself and his family while in the UK so his children can know his home country.
During his last visit to the UK in July 2021 – to unveil a statue in honour of his late mother – his security was compromised, due to the absence of police protection, whilst leaving a charity event.
After another attempt at negotiations was also rejected, he sought a judicial review in September 2021 to challenge the decision-making behind the security procedures, in the hopes that this could be re-evaluated for the obvious and necessary protection required.
The UK will always be Prince Harry’s home and a 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 UK – will resolve this situation. It is due to a leak in a UK tabloid, with surreptitious timing, we feel it necessary to release a statement setting the facts straight.
The Duke is suing over a decision not to allow him to pay for police protection for himself and his family while in the UK.
He is arguing his private protection team in the US does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to UK intelligence which is needed to keep safe.
On Friday, the first hearing in the case took place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, which Harry did not attend.
At the preliminary hearing, the court heard there was an application by both sides for some parts of the court documents in the case to be kept private.
Introducing the case, Shaheed Fatima QC, for the duke, said: ‘This claim is about the fact that the claimant does not feel safe when he is in the UK given the security arrangements applied to him in June 2021 and will continue to be applied to him.’
She continued: ‘It goes without saying that he does want to come back to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart.
‘Most of all, this is and always will be his home.’
The duke briefly returned from LA for the July 1 unveiling of the Diana statue and, the day before met ill children at a WellChild garden party in Kew Gardens.
It is claimed the Duke’s car was chased by photographers as he left. Ms Fatima later said before the claim was issued ‘the claimant asked the defendant to engage in alternative dispute resolution’.
Harry is challenging the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) over his security.
A legal representative for Harry previously said the duke wants to fund the security himself, rather than ask taxpayers to foot the bill.
Robert Palmer QC, for the Home Office, told the court the duke’s offer of private funding was ‘irrelevant’.
In written submissions, he said: ‘Personal protective security by the police is not available on a privately financed basis, and Ravec does not make decisions on the provision of such security on the basis that any financial contribution could be sought or obtained to pay for it.’
He said Ravec had attributed to the duke ‘a form of exceptional status’ where he is considered for personal protective security by the police ‘with the precise arrangements being dependent on the reason for his presence in Great Britain and by reference to the functions he carries out when present’.
The barrister added: ‘A case-by-case approach rationally and appropriately allows Ravec to implement a responsive approach to reflect the applicable circumstances.’
The Home Office’s written arguments also claim that Harry’s offer of funding was ‘notably not advanced to Ravec’ at the time of the duke’s visit in June 2021, or in any pre-action discussions.
Mr Palmer later said in the written submissions that the duke had ‘failed to afford the necessary measure of respect’ to the Home Secretary and Ravec as ‘the expert, and democratically accountable, decision-maker on matters of protective security and associated risk assessment’.
He added that the Home Office will ‘seek the costs incurred as a result of this claim in full, including those of the confidentiality exercise, which has resulted in costs being incurred to the public purse’.
Before moving into their nine-bedroom, £10 million home in Montecito, California, the Sussexes were given the use of a mansion (above) owned by entertainment tycoon Tyler Perry, who also provided the couple with security
Ahead of Prince Philip’s funeral, Harry travelled to Britain with his private security team, but was met on the tarmac at Heathrow by Scotland Yard protection officers. It is understood that was not the case when he returned to the UK for the unveiling of a statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace with his brother William in July (above)
Friday’s stormy weather and high winds in London frequently interrupted the in-person proceedings as the courtroom’s windows rattled and made loud noises.
At one stage Mr Palmer joked: ‘My submissions are being heralded by trumpets.’
He told the court there was ‘near-total agreement’ about what aspects of the documents should be redacted.
Harry’s bid for a review of the Home Office decision was filed in September and has not yet been granted or denied permission for a full hearing.
The duke and his wife Meghan now live in the United States with their children Archie and Lilibet.
The couple lost their taxpayer-funded police protection in the aftermath of quitting as senior working royals in early 2020.
They were later forced to disclose they had put in place ‘privately funded security arrangements’ for their move to the US, after then president Donald Trump said his country would not pay for their protection.
The hearing in front of Mr Justice Swift continues, with a written judgment due at a later date.
What is Harry’s concern with UK security and why is he taking legal action?
Are Harry and his family covered by security arrangements currently?
He and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, personally fund a private protection team in the US for their family.
The Sussexes have signed multimillion-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify, with Harry telling Oprah Winfrey he secured these to pay for his security.
But he and Meghan lost their taxpayer-funded police protection in the UK in the aftermath of quitting as senior working royals.
Why did they lose their taxpayer-funded security?
Their security provision was one of the key issues when the couple announced they wanted to step down in 2020.
Speaking to Winfrey during the couple’s sit-down interview in 2021, Harry said he was told that ‘due to our change of status – we would no longer be ‘official’ members of the royal family’.
He said he had been shocked by this and ‘pushed back’ on the issue, arguing that there had been no change of threat or risk to the couple.
Meghan, during the same interview, told how she had written to her husband’s family urging them not to ‘pull his security’, but had been told ‘it’s just not possible’.
At the time of announcing their stepping back from royal life in 2020, their website suggested the Home Office, through the Metropolitan Police, should continue to provide protection for the couple and Archie, their only child at the time.
Have they offered to pay for police protection in the UK themselves?
Yes. Harry wants to fund the security himself, rather than ask taxpayers to foot the bill, his legal representative said.
He first offered to personally pay for police protection in the UK for himself and his family during the so-called Sandringham summit in January 2020, but the legal representative said that offer ‘was dismissed’.
The representative added that Harry ‘remains willing to cover the cost of security, as not to impose on the British taxpayer’.
Can they use the same security team they have while in the US?
Harry’s legal representative said that while the couple personally fund a private security team for their family, ‘that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the UK’.
His argument is that the US team does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to UK intelligence information which is needed to keep the Sussex family safe.
So what is Harry doing about the issue of his UK security now?
In September 2021, he filed a claim for a judicial review against the Home Office decision not to allow him to personally pay for police protection for himself and his family while in the UK.
His legal team said this course of action was taken ‘after another attempt at negotiations was also rejected’.
They said the judicial review bid is an attempt to ‘challenge the decision-making behind the security procedures, in the hopes that this could be re-evaluated for the obvious and necessary protection required’.
What threats do the couple see themselves as facing in the UK?
In a statement, the legal representative said: ‘He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats. 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.’
Has the Home Office said anything about the bid for judicial review?
A Government spokesperson said: ‘The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements. To do so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.
‘It would also not be appropriate to comment on the detail of any legal proceedings.’
Will the couple return to the UK if the issue is not resolved in the way they would like?
A spokesperson for the duke has said that, in the absence of what they consider to be the necessary protection, ‘Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home’.
They insisted the UK ‘will always be Prince Harry’s home’, adding that it is ‘a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in’.
But they added: ‘With the lack of police protection, comes too great a personal risk.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10526793/Prince-Harry-begins-High-Court-legal-battle-against-Home-Office.html
