New legal setback for Prince Harry.
While the youngest son of King Charles III and his wife Meghan lost their systematic protection from law enforcement at the expense of the British taxpayer, after their withdrawal from the royal family in 2020, he contested the authorities' decision to grant him only grant protection on a case-by-case basis when returning to the UK.
But British justice ruled against him on Wednesday.
The High Court of London ruled that the decision of the Home Office, the British Interior Office, “was not irrational”, had “not been tainted by injustice” and that the case-by-case strategy henceforth adopted by the police “was, and is, legally founded”.
She considered that her withdrawal from the royal family had changed her status.
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This is the second legal defeat for King Charles III's son over responsibility for his security when he visits the UK.
In another procedure concluded last May, the courts refused him the right to benefit from police protection by paying for it with his personal funds.
Fears for his safety and that of his family
The subject is sensitive for the prince, who still holds the press and the paparazzi responsible for the car accident which killed his mother, Princess Diana, in Paris in 1997. His rare trips to the United Kingdom in recent years, notably for his father's coronation or to visit him after the announcement of his cancer, were also scrutinized by the media.
Harry has also engaged in a legal crusade against the tabloids, with varying degrees of success.
In written testimony read during the debates in early December, Prince Harry said that his fears for his safety and that of his family prevented him from coming to the country more regularly.
“I cannot put my wife in danger like this, and given what I have experienced, I am also reluctant to put myself in unnecessary danger,” he said.
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His lawyer had argued that a case-by-case decision on his security “results in excessive uncertainty” for the prince and those charged with his security.
The Interior Ministry's lawyer defended the Home Office's decision to grant the Duke of Sussex "tailor-made" and "depending on the context" protection surrounding his travels in the United Kingdom, due to his "change of status” within the royal family.
The Home Office welcomed the High Court's ruling on Wednesday, saying "the UK government's safeguarding system is robust and proportionate".