Prince Harry loses final bid for taxpayer-funded UK security
By Nika Shakhnazarova
Prince Harry has lost his appeal against the UK government over taxpayer-funded security.
During a two-day hearing at a London court last month, the Duke of Sussex, 40, claimed he had been singled out for “unjustified and inferior treatment” when he and his family were stripped of publicly funded security detail.
On Friday, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice David Bean and Lord Justice Andrew Edis announced the ruling — which comes as a huge blow to the “Spare” author and his wife, Meghan Markle, who has refused to return to the UK following the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022.
Prince Harry walking towards the High Court in London for his appeal against withdrawal of his UK police protection, taken on April 9, 2025.
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Britain’s Prince Harry walks to attend court for his appeal. He lost his appeal against the UK government.
REUTERS
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, leaving the High Court in London, after his appeal against police protection removal on April 9, 2025.
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Prince Harry leaving court on April 9, 2025.
REUTERS
The appeal was widely considered to be Harry’s final shot at winning back the security detail.
It is not yet known whether the Invictus Games founder will be allowed to apply for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court following the ruling.
Delivering the ruling, Judge Vos noted that while Harry’s arguments were “powerful and moving,” he “could not say that the duke’s sense of grievance translated into a legal argument for the challenge to” the Royal and VIP Executive Committee’s (RAVEC) decision.
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“The conclusion, in my judgement, with which my colleagues Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edith agreed, was that the Duke of Sussex’s appeal would be dismissed,” he added.
The Home Office, which has ultimate legal authority over RAVEC, rejected Harry’s appeal.
Its legal team asserted that the decision was made in an exceptional context and that there were no valid grounds to contest it.
“The duke was in effect stepping in and out of the cohort of protection provided by Ravec,” Judge Vos said while reading a summary of the court’s decision Friday.
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“Outside the UK, he was outside the cohort, but when in the UK, his security would be considered as appropriate.”
“It was impossible to say that this reasoning was illogical or inappropriate, indeed it seemed sensible,” he said, adding that the decision was “understandable and perhaps predictable.”
The Post has reached out to Harry’s reps for comment.
During his April court hearing, Harry complained about not feeling safe enough to return to his home soil with his wife and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, because “it is too dangerous.”
Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex walking on the long Walk at Windsor Castle.
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(Left to right) Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on September 10, 2022.
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The duke’s lawyers added that the UK’s treatment of him was “unlawful and unfair,” and warned of “the impact on the UK’s reputation of a successful attack” against him.
Harry’s legal team also mentioned the duke’s failed bid to hire armed bodyguards from London’s Metropolitan Police on his own dime — a request that was refused last year.
In February 2024, London’s High Court ruled to strip the Sussexes of taxpayer-funded UK security protection.
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Prince Harry leaving the High Court in London after his appeal against the removal of his UK police protection, April 9, 2025
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Prince harry departs from court on April 9, 2025.
REUTERS
The father of two — who lives in Montecito, California, with his family — was ordered to pay 90% of the UK Home Office’s legal costs for defending the court’s initial ruling.
Sir Peter Lane, the judge of the High Court, ruled that there was no unlawfulness in stripping the Sussexes of their security in February 2020 following their shocking departure from royal life the month prior.
Following the ruling, Harry has made it his mission to win the security detail back for him and his family — but has notably received zero help from the royals.
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