Prince Harry has taken legal action against the British Home Office’s decision to deny him the right to fund his own police protection while in the UK. The Duke of Sussex is eager to bring his son Archie and daughter Lilibet to visit from the United States, but he and his family are unable to return to his home in the UK due to the perceived danger. The decision was made after Harry’s car was chased by paparazzi photographers as he left a charity event in London during the summer of 2021. Harry’s legal representative explained that the duke wants to fund the security himself, rather than ask taxpayers to cover the cost.
Prince Harry and Meghan (Via Prince Harry and Meghan/Twitter)
The legal team pointed out that the absence of police protection poses a significant personal risk to the duke and his family, citing the incident where his car was chased by photographers as an example. This is particularly concerning given the tragic history of his mother, Princess Diana’s, death in a car crash following a paparazzi chase in Paris. The team also highlighted that Harry inherited a security risk at birth as a member of the Royal Family and remains subject to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats. Despite changing his role within the Institution, Harry’s profile as a member of the Royal Family has not diminished, and the threat to him and his family has not diminished.
Harry first offered to pay personally for UK police protection for himself and his family in January 2020, but this offer was rejected. Despite this, he remains willing to cover the cost of security to avoid imposing on the British taxpayer. He has signed multimillion-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify to fund his security. Harry’s goal remains simple – to ensure the safety of himself and his family while in the UK, so his children can know his home country.
