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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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Prince Harry has lost a legal battle to get his police bodyguards reinstated after previously saying removing them makes visiting the United Kingdom unsafe for him, his wife Meghan Markle, and their children.
The Duke of Sussex was stripped of his protection team early in 2020 after announcing his plans to quit the palace and start a new life in North America.
The Metropolitan Police continued to provide a team on some visits, but predominantly for royal events to which he had an invite from his family, such as the Platinum Jubilee.
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Harry, though, said through a legal representative that without a police team, it would be too dangerous for Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet and Meghan to visit the country of his birth.
He sued the British Government twice at the High Court in London and lost both times. However, he mounted an appeal, which has now also been rejected, suggesting that a more than three-year legal voyage has finally run aground.
Court of Appeal Judge Sir Geoffrey Vos said in his judgement that Harry's arguments were "powerful and moving" but added: "I could not say that the Duke's sense of grievance translated into a legal argument for the challenge."
The implication for Harry may be long-lasting if he stands by his original position that this rules out trips to Britain with his wife and children.
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Prince Harry's Lawsuit
The prince's attorneys had argued that a key Home Office committee, RAVEC, responsible for deciding who gets police protection had not applied its normal policy to him.
Rather than order an assessment by a body known as the Risk Management Board, as normally done, they created a "bespoke" model just for Harry in which his need for security would be assessed on each visit.
Harry attended court for the appeal hearing earlier this year as a show of just how seriously he took the case and heard his lawyers argue RAVEC's approach had left him worse off not better.
However, the judgement suggested that in fact three separate threat assessments had been done before the decision to remove his bodyguards was taken.
The official summary of the judgement, seen by Newsweek, read: "Outside the UK, he was outside that cohort, but when in the UK his security would be considered as appropriate depending on the circumstances. It was impossible to say that this reasoning was illogical or inappropriate. Indeed, it seemed sensible.
"Finally, even if there had been a risk analysis from the Risk Management Board, it
would very likely have only confirmed the threat, vulnerability and impact levels which
the Duke of Sussex had faced when earlier risk analyses were undertaken.
"But it would have had nothing to say on the critical features of the changed situation, namely the need for protective security on future uncertain visits and the Government's appetite for risk."
Update 5/2/25, 10:55 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek*, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on* Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about Charles and Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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