British taxpayers don’t want to pay for security for Prince Harry in the U.K. when he returns to his homeland for visits from the United States. Today a High Court judge upheld a decision that they don’t have to do that.
Harry, the Duke of Sussex, argued that he should have automatic protection for himself, Meghan, and his young children whenever they returned to the U.K. from their home in California. That royal perk was taken from Harry in February 2020 when he and Meghan decided to stop carrying out official royal duties.
Today High Court Judge Peter Lane upheld the U.K. government decision and that specifically of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) to downgrade Harry.
“The court has found that there has not been any unlawfulness in reaching the decision of 28 February 2020,” Lane ruled in documents seen by PEOPLE. “The decision was not irrational. The decision was not marred by procedural unfairness.”
“The court has also found that there has been no unlawfulness on the part of RAVEC in respect of its arrangements for certain of the claimant’s visits to Great Britain,” the ruling added.
Harry will appeal the ruling.
Harry is now going to appeal against the decision. “The Duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of RAVEC’s own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with RAVEC’s own written policy,” a legal spokesperson said in a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday.
“In February 2020, RAVEC failed to apply its written policy to The Duke of Sussex and excluded him from a particular risk analysis,” the statement continued. “The Duke’s case is that the so-called ‘bespoke process’ that applies to him, is no substitute for that risk analysis.”
“The Duke of Sussex hopes he will obtain justice from the Court of Appeal, and makes no further comment while the case is ongoing.”
At the time that the privilege was taken from him, he argued that he would pay for it but he needed the security protection afforded to other royals. He wanted his children “to feel at home” in the U.K. Harry’s lawyer at the time argued that there was no way of that happening if they didn’t have the security to keep them safe on U.K. soil.
“The U.K. is my home. The U.K. is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the United States,” Harry continued. “That cannot happen if there is no possibility to keep them safe when they are on U.K. soil.”
“I can’t put my wife in danger like that, and given my experiences in life, I’m reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
The U.K. government’s Home Office said in December that Harry will have “bespoke arrangements, specifically tailored to him”, not the automatic security that the working royals receive.
Though he said he doesn’t want special treatment, his actions speak otherwise. If he offered to pay for security protection in the U.K., why isn’t he just bringing security from California with him as other celebrities do? They travel with their security team. Harry should do the same if he has concerns. It is his responsibility to protect his wife and children, not that of the British taxpayers. He is not a working royal. He and Meghan do not serve the British taxpayers – they consider themselves as Californians now. Their children are being raised in California, not London.
All of this seems much ado about nothing, given the life Harry has led since 2020. He has only returned to England once with his family in tow. That was in 2022 for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Harry returned alone recently to visit his father after King Charles’ cancer diagnosis was made public. Perhaps Charles is more ill than is being let on and Harry plans to return more often. That is something that will have to be seen, though, since Harry has been clear in the last few years that he doesn’t want to be part of the royal family.
He wants his cake and to eat it, too. He behaves as an entitled spoiled brat. Harry and Meghan’s big $100M deal with Netflix is being described as a flop. Little has been produced since the deal was inked.
“Taking on Harry and Meghan was a great coup for Netflix,” public relations and image guru Mark Borkowski told TheWrap. “It probably got a lot of eyeballs and subscriptions, but they [Harry and Markle] never delivered.”
Hollywood has grown bored with them. Maybe a relocation back to the U.K. isn’t looking so bad to Harry these days.
