For years, Prince Harry was fighting with Ravec through the British courts, arguing that the “bespoke security” arrangement was insufficient for his needs and his family’s needs. While the Sussexes were technically under that same bespoke arrangement when they came to the UK for the Jubbly in June 2022, Queen Elizabeth II stepped in and personally guaranteed the Sussexes’ safety. It was reported that year that she even had her own RPOs protecting the Sussexes for their brief visits in 2022. That completely changed when QEII died and Charles became king. Charles made it a million times more difficult for Harry to visit, and of course Charles didn’t want to see Meghan or the children. Not only does Harry have to provide 30-days notice for any security request, his requests during his father’s reign have been rejected more often than they’ve been fulfilled. Even Harry’s most recent visit to the UK in September, the same visit where he met his father for tea, did not come with any royal protection. All of which to say, the problem with Ravec has never been the government. The problem has always been Charles, William and the courtiers. But someone wants us to know that Harry’s new security risk assessment will not have any input from government ministers.
Ministers will have no role in deciding whether to reinstate Prince Harry’s taxpayer-funded armed police protection when he visits the UK. The royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec), which is overseen by the Home Office, has launched a fresh risk assessment of Duke of Sussex’s security, sources have confirmed.
A decision is expected next month, before the duke’s scheduled visit to the UK in February, when he is expected to give evidence in his court case against Associated Newspapers.
The decision to reassess the duke’s security risk comes after a letter he wrote to Shabana Mahmood , the home secretary, in September calling for a new threat assessment to be carried out. He asked Ravec to “abide by its own rules”, which state that a risk-management board should be conducted for each member of the royal family and other qualifying VIPs every year. The duke even called on the prime minister to “step in”.
Harry’s last threat assessment was carried out in 2019, before he withdrew from royal duties, and in May this year he lost a High Court battle to reinstate police protection.
However, The Times has been told that no minister will be involved in any process of the new risk assessment or the final decision on whether to reinstate his security. Ravec includes security officials from the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police and the royal household, who work together to advise the independent chair to make decisions on who should be given protection and at what level. While Ravec authorises security for senior royals on behalf of the Home Office, the chair’s decision is independent of ministerial involvement.
The Home Office has legal responsibility for the committee’s decision and successfully opposed the duke’s appeal in May. After the High Court decision the Home Office said it was “pleased” the court had found in favour of the “government’s position in this case”.
A British person or a security expert could probably explain this better, because I feel like I’m missing some subtext? Why is it a big deal that ministers won’t have input on the risk assessment? I would actually feel more comfortable if the risk assessment was made by ass-covering bureaucrats and police higher-ups as opposed to the motley crew of sycophantic royal courtiers sitting on Ravec, the same courtiers who have clearly pushed for the Sussexes to be put in mortal danger since 2020.
Camilla Tominey and Tim Stanley spoke about all of this on the Daily T, Tominey’s batsh-t crazy talk show. Tominey endlessly recycles through the royalist talking points, blaming Harry for increasing the threats against his family, saying outright that the Sussexes aren’t famous enough for the kind of private security they have, and claiming that the real reason Meghan refuses to visit the UK is because she’s afraid of being booed. But once they pay the Sussex Tax, the rest of the conversation is slightly interesting.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
