Prince Harry: Duke of Sussex loses court appeal against Home Office over UK police protection

Three senior judges — Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edis — handed down their ruling at the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday afternoon, rejecting Prince Harry’s appeal against the Home Office. The case centred around a decision made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) in 2020, which concluded that Harry should receive a different level of police protection following his departure as a senior working royal.

During a two-day hearing in April, Prince Harry’s legal team argued that he had been “singled out” for “inferior treatment” and claimed that his “safety, security and life are at stake.”

Shaheed Fatima KC, representing the Duke, told the court that he and the Duchess of Sussex “felt forced to step back” from royal duties because they believed they “were not being protected by the institution.”

Following the Ravec decision, Ms Fatima said, al Qaida issued a threat against Harry, stating he should “be murdered” and that his “assassination would please the Muslim community,” as published in a document discovered by his security team.

She also criticised Ravec’s approach, saying it did not consult the usual “expert specialist body called the risk management board, or the RMB,” and instead used a “so-called ‘bespoke process.’”

“The appellant does not accept that ‘bespoke’ means ‘better’,” she said. “In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.”

Ms Fatima clarified that Harry was not demanding the same level of security as before but argued that he should be assessed “under the terms of reference and subject to the same process as any other individual being considered for protective security by Ravec, unless there is a cogent reason to the contrary.”

In response, Sir James Eadie KC, acting for the Home Office, dismissed the appeal in written submissions as a “continued failure to see the wood for the trees.”

“Ravec treats the Duke in a ‘bespoke manner’, which is ‘better suited’ to his circumstances,” he wrote. “He is no longer a member of the cohort of individuals whose security position remains under regular review by Ravec. Rather, he is brought back into the cohort in appropriate circumstances, and in light of consideration of any given context.”

The original decision, ruled lawful by retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane in 2023, was taken after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped back from their royal duties and relocated to the United States.

Prince Harry attended both days of the April hearing in London, taking notes and engaging with his legal team. Due to the sensitive nature of the case, parts of the proceedings were held in private to discuss confidential security matters.