The Duke of Sussex Prince Harry has been given the green light to appeal against a High Court ruling dismissing his challenge over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the UK by a Court of Appeal judge.
The Court of Appeal has now said it will listen to his challenge following a direct application from Harry’s lawyers, who said the prince had been granted permission to appeal. Harry first began the action after the Home Office, the ministry responsible for policing, in February 2020 cut off his right to automatic personal police security while in the UK.
Harry, in addition to other senior royals, had received full publicly-funded security protection until he chose to step back from his royal duties and moved to California with Meghan Markle back in March 2020. It was after this that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) decided In April not to allow Harry the same amount of protection as he previously had been given after he stopped being a “full-time working member of the royal family”.
Ravec was entitled to come to this conclusion, according to judge Sir Peter Lane, who then also ordered that Harry should pay 90% of the Home Office’s “reasonable costs” in defending the case. The government’s total outlay was not stated, however.
Judge David Bean, when granting permission for an appeal, said he was persuaded “not without hesitation”, that Harry’s challenge on the grounds that Ravec had not followed its own stated policy had a real prospect of success. The court also found that Sir Peter may have been mistaken in concluding that Harry was not in a position comparable to those in an “Other VIP Category”, who do receive state security.
At a previous hearing of the case in a written statement, Harry described the UK as his “home” and a place “central” to his children’s heritage. “It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020. The UK is my home.
“The UK 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 it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too,” he said.
A spokesman for Harry at the time of the earlier ruling indicated that he intended to appeal, noting: “The duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of Ravec’s own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with Ravec’s own written policy.
“In February 2020, Ravec failed to apply its written policy to the Duke of Sussex and excluded him from a particular risk analysis. The Duke of Sussex hopes he will obtain justice from the Court of Appeal, and makes no further comment while the case is ongoing. The duke’s case is that the so-called ‘bespoke process’ that applies to him is no substitute for that risk analysis.”
