A court hearing was held again in the dispute between Prince Harry and the British Home Office over his police protection. It turned out that the royal family was also involved in the decision.
In spring 2020, Prince Harry and his wife Duchess Meghan announced their departure from the British royal family. A decision with far-reaching consequences. Among other things, the couple’s permanent state police protection in Great Britain was canceled because they officially no longer work for the Royal Family and have relocated their center of life to the USA. However, nothing has changed in terms of his threat situation, argued Prince Harry and is therefore taking legal action against the decision.
There was tension between Harry and the Queen’s private secretary
At a hearing before the High Court in London, it came out that the decision to remove police protection for Harry and his family was not taken exclusively by a department of the Home Office, as previously assumed, but that the royal family was also involved. The driving force behind this is said to have been the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Edward Young. There was “significant tension” between him and Harry, the prince’s attorney, Shaheed Fatima, said in court.
“He [Prince Harry] was completely unaware at the time that the royal family was involved. He was told it was an independent decision,” argued the lawyer. A committee, the so-called “Royal and VIP Executive Committee” (RAVEC), decided on the cancellation of permanent police protection. It was not previously known that not only officials from the Ministry of the Interior but also members of the royal household were sitting there.
“Prior to the decision, [the Prince] was told by the Royal Household that RAVEC was ‘independent’; he was not informed of the composition of RAVEC, nor that the Royal Household was involved in the decision,” reads the the court documents.
Prince Harry’s lawyer criticized that he had neither the opportunity to speak before the committee nor to present his offer to pay for the security costs himself.
Home Office: Tensions between the Duke of Sussex and the Queen’s private secretary are ‘irrelevant’
The Interior Ministry’s legal team was unfazed by the arguments. The decisive factor in the committee’s decision was Harry’s withdrawal from the royal family and with it his changed status as a royal who was no longer working. Any tensions between the 37-year-old and members of the royal household are “irrelevant” in this matter.
After the hearing, Judge Justice Swift said he would decide by the end of the month whether to proceed with the case.
Sources: Daily Mail, Town
