Prince Harry’s fight for security in the U.K. continues, as the Duke of Sussex expresses fears for his family’s safety.
Harry’s lawyers are arguing on his behalf during a three-day hearing in London, challenging the U.K. government’s decision to strip him of his security detail after he gave up his status as a working royal. His legal team shared a statement, in which Harry says he wants his children to “feel at home” when overseas, which can’t happen “if there is no possibility to keep them safe when they are on U.K. soil.”
Harry said he “felt forced” to step away as a senior member of the royal family in 2020. Harry, his wife, Meghan Markle and their son, Prince Archie, moved to Montecito, California, that year. The couple’s daughter, Princess Lilibet, was born in 2021.
Prince Harry argued that without the property security measures, his wife Meghan Markle is not safe in the U.K. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
“It was with great sadness to both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020,” Harry said in a statement, per ITV. “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. That cannot happen if there is no possibility to keep them safe when they are on U.K. soil.”
Harry continued, “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.”
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Harry’s attorney, Shaheed Fatima, argued earlier this week in court that the group that evaluated Prince Harry’s security needs – known by the acronym of its former name, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, or RAVEC – treated him unfairly in February 2020 and failed to follow its own policies that required risk analysis about the Duke of Sussex’s safety.
Prince Harry said he “felt forced” to leave the U.K. with Meghan Markle in 2020. (Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
“RAVEC should have considered the ‘impact’ that a successful attack on the claimant would have, bearing in mind his status, background and profile within the royal family – which he was born into and which he will have for the rest of his life,” Fatima said. “RAVEC should have considered, in particular, the impact on the U.K.’s reputation of a successful attack on the claimant.”
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Harry has argued that the committee unfairly nixed his security request without hearing from him personally and didn’t disclose the panel’s composition, which he later learned included royal family staff. He said Edward Young, the assistant private secretary to the late Queen Elizabeth II, shouldn’t have been on the committee because of “significant tensions” between the two men.
Prince Harry’s lawyers said in court that he wants his children to “feel at home” when visiting the U.K. (Associated Press)
The Home Office has argued that any tensions between Harry and the royal household staff were irrelevant and that the committee was entitled to its decision, because he had relinquished his role as a working member of the family.
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Representatives for the Sussexes did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment about the hearing.
Since Harry and Meghan’s move to the United States, the couple has only brought their children to the U.K. once, for the late Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
