A woman with a long history of pursuing Prince Harry was able to get alarmingly close to him twice during his recent visit to the UK, prompting renewed scrutiny over his downgraded security arrangements.
The woman, identified as one of several “fixated individuals” being tracked by private intelligence, reportedly slipped into a “secure zone” at a central London hotel during the WellChild Awards on September 9.
Two days later, she appeared again within metres of the father-of-two at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in west London, according to The Telegraph.
A quick-thinking staff member recognised her and “body-blocked” her path to prevent any contact, despite not knowing whether she was armed.
There were no police officers present at the event.
The woman has reportedly followed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex across several countries and was seen during their visit to Abuja, Nigeria, last year.
Harry’s trip, which included a brief meeting with King Charles III, was entirely self-funded including the cost of his private security.
It followed his failed High Court appeal in May over the UK government’s decision to strip him of taxpayer-funded protection.
It is understood that under current arrangements, the 40-year-old Prince has only a “liaison officer” to contact in the event of an emergency.
A friend of the Duke told The Telegraph that it “should not be left to two office staff to act as extra eyes and ears or provide a physical barrier”.
“That should not happen. It is only going to take one motivated, lone individual for this to go south very quickly,” the friend said.
Neil Basu, the UK’s former head of counter-terrorism policing, told the publication it was a “mistake” not to review the Duke’s threat level.
He stressed “the most common nature of threat to a member of the Royal family has been fixated individuals”.
It is understood several people have previously been jailed for plotting to harm Prince Harry, making threats or inciting violence, according to The Telegraph.
Three British nationals who once targeted him are now back in the community after serving their sentences, yet Harry has not received a formal risk assessment since 2019.
Mr Basu suggested that reconciliation between Prince Harry and his father, who is Head of State, could be key to resolving the ongoing security dispute, saying the pair could “come to some arrangement between them”.
However, Buckingham Palace firmly denied that private family dynamics influenced the Duke’s security status.
A palace source said there was “no connection whatsoever between private family relationships and security provision for the Duke”, adding it would be “false and damaging to suggest otherwise”.
Harry has previously claimed his push for taxpayer-funded protection has become a major “sticking point” between himself and his 76-year-old father, who continues to undergo treatment for an undisclosed cancer.
Admitting he felt let down, the Duke described his legal defeat as a “good old fashioned establishment stitch up”, blaming the Royal Household for swaying the decision to downgrade his security.
“I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point,” he said.