Harry claims police protection withdrawn to ‘trap’ him and Meghan in UK

The Duke of Sussex has said his ‘worst fears’ about the withdrawal of his police protection have been confirmed.

Prince Harry is challenging the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office, over the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) decision that he won’t receive the same level of protection while in the UK.

The royal lost his Ravec protection in early 2020 after he and wife Meghan Markle quit as senior working royals.

That full-time police protection is currently granted to King Charles and Queen Camilla, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and their three children.

Instead, Ravec decided the Sussexes would get a ‘bespoke’ security service, where they would have to give 30 days notice of any plans to travel to the UK.

Each trip would then be assessed for threat levels and the level of protection needed.

Shaheed Fatima KC, who represents Harry, told the appeal hearing that the duke had been ‘singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment’, adding that Harry ‘does not accept that “bespoke” means ‘better”‘.

Last year, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane ruled last year that Ravec’s decision was lawful – but Harry is challenging the dismissal of his claim.

A two-day hearing this week sat partly in private to hear confidential evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice – and Harry said ‘people would be shocked by what’s being held back’.

He added that his ‘worst fears have been confirmed by the whole legal disclosure in this case and that’s really sad’.

Harry suggested the Ravec decision was made to try and stop him from his wife from quitting as working royals and moving to the US. Buckingham Palace sources strongly deny this.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Harry admitted he was ‘exhausted’ and ‘overwhelmed’ by the legal battle, saying: ‘We were trying to create this happy house.’

The Home Office, which has legal responsibility for the committee’s decisions, is opposing the appeal, with its lawyers previously telling the High Court that decisions were taken on a ‘case-by-case’ basis.

At the end of the hearing on Wednesday, judge Sir Geoffrey Vos said the Court of Appeal’s decision would be given in writing at a later date, which was ‘most unlikely’ to be before Easter.

Sir Geoffrey, sitting with Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edis, said: ‘Plainly we will take our time to consider our judgments.’

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