Prince Harry’s latest move ‘paves way for return to UK with kids’ but there’s a hitch

Prince Harry has made a renewed plea for a change to his security arrangements while in the UK – and it could mean another change, according to an expert

Prince Harry’s battle for a change to his security in the UK has dominated the headlines for years. And despite losing his case at the Court of Appeal earlier this year, it seems he is not about to give up lightly.

An insider close to the Duke of Sussex said that he wrote to the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood shortly after her appointment to the role and submitted a formal request for a risk assessment to the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), overseen by the Home Office. It comes after Harry lost an appeal in May challenging the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office over the decision of Ravec that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.

He is not automatically entitled to police protection since he quit his royal role and currently receives ‘bespoke’ protection on a case-by-case basis.

But according to former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, any success with his latest move could prove a way of allowing his father, the King, to spend more time with Harry’s children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Harry has not brought them to the UK since claiming it is not safe to do so without police protection. And Jennie told the Mirror : “It’s true that Harry seems like a dog with a bone over these security arrangements, but I do think he has a point. As the King’s son and as a former army officer, Harry clearly is a target.

“I’m not suggesting he should have taxpayer-funded security when he has chosen to live in the United States, but when he is in the United Kingdom, it doesn’t seem too much to ask to have security provided by the Metropolitan Police.

“After all, as Harry himself has pointed out, former Prime Ministers are given life-long protection. I think the RAVEC committee should do as he asks: re-assess his risk level and take appropriate action. Harry would do well to avoid drawing his father into his dispute, as that does put the King in a very difficult position.

“But I can quite understand why he wants to put his case to the Home Secretary and see what can be done during any future visits to the UK.

“If there were to be an upgrade to his security arrangements, it could clear the way for him to bring his children – and his wife if she wanted to come – to visit the family back home. And that would be something very special for our elderly monarch.”

After losing the Court of Appeal challenge in May, Harry said in a TV interview he “can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK”.

The 41-year-old told the BBC he would ask then-home secretary Yvette Cooper to “look at this very, very carefully”, and warned that the royal family ’s power over security means it “can be used to control” family members. He also said he would ask Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to “step in”.

The legal challenge came after Harry and the Duchess of Sussex left the UK and first moved to Canada, and then California, after announcing they wanted to step back as senior royals.

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