Prince Harry has lost the latest round of his legal battle against the British government over his publicly funded security when he is in Britain.
He has been fighting a decision to remove the automatic police protection that is normally given to members of the royal family. It was removed in 2020 after he stepped down from his official role and left the country.
Harry lost the previous stage of the case in February last year, but challenged that ruling at the Court of Appeal, which gave its judgment on Friday.
Geoffrey Vos, one of the three Court of Appeal judges who dismissed Harry’s case, told the hearing that a “bespoke” process adopted after he moved to California, that allows British officials to make decisions on his U.K. visits on a case-by-case basis, was lawful.
He said the move away from Harry’s automatic protection was “an understandable and perhaps predictable reaction to the Duke of Sussex having stepped back from royal duties and left the U.K.”
At a two-day hearing last month, Harry’s barristers said in court that he had been left with “inferior treatment” that put his safety and that of his wife, Meghan, and their two children at risk. And they argued that the decision to withdraw the normal level of protection for royals was unlawful and violated official policy.
The decision was made by a body called the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as Ravec, which brings together government officials, the police and members of the royal household.
Harry began his legal challenge in September 2021 and the first stage heard that he had offered to “reimburse or proactively finance the cost of the security measures” himself, but Ravec decided that the move would be wrong “in principle.”
The committee was said to be concerned that permitting private payment would “reduce the availability” of a limited pool of close protection officers in Britain where police do not routinely carry guns and undergo intensive specialist training for the role.
Harry lost a legal challenge on the funding decision in 2023, and a High Court judge dismissed his case on wider grounds in February 2024.
He was granted permission to appeal three months later, but only on legal points concerning whether the committee had violated its own policy on how to decide which individuals should receive protection.
As he gave the Court of Appeal’s ruling on Friday, Judge Vos agreed that its policy was not followed but said that was for “good reason,” and in accordance with risk assessments and expertise on royal protection.
The committee had considered Harry’s security “as appropriate depending on the circumstances” of his visits to Britain, the judge said, adding: “It was impossible to say that this reasoning was illogical or inappropriate. Indeed, it seemed sensible.”
Judge Vos acknowledged that Harry feared for his family’s safety and “felt badly treated by the system,” but he said that did not make the committee’s decisions unlawful.
Court of Appeal rulings can be fought at Britain’s Supreme Court, but permission must be granted by judges and Harry’s legal team have not yet said whether they will seek it.
While the case has been ongoing, Harry has visited Britain on several occasions, including for the funeral of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and for the coronation of his father, King Charles III.
The High Court heard that each visit had triggered applications to the committee for public protection, which are now considered for Harry on a case-by-case basis, and involved the use of private security.
Harry is fighting a separate case at the High Court against the publisher of the British newspaper Daily Mail, alongside a group of celebrities and high-profile individuals who accuse it of unlawfully obtaining information on their personal lives. A two-day hearing on that case is set to take place next week.
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