A royal expert is weighing in on what’s next for Prince Harry after the Duke of Sussex won his years-long U.K. security battle.
“This is a huge victory for Harry, and opens the door fairly wide for his return to the U.K. sometime in the near future,” royal author Christopher Andersen, who wrote the book Brothers and Wives, told Us Weekly exclusively on Monday, January 5.
A recent report published by the Mail on Sunday claimed that Harry’s drawn-out battle for government-funded security in the U.K. had come to an end. After the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) conducted their risk assessment review of Harry’s trips to the U.K., it was apparently decided that he is eligible for armed protection going forward.
Team Sussex declined to comment on the Mail on Sunday report.
Since stepping down from senior royal duties in January 2020, Prince Harry has found himself in a battle for his family’s protection in the U.K. Upon losing his former public-funded security personnel after moving from England to California, Harry applied for judicial review in January 2022 to fund his family’s own protection during U.K. visits. […]
Andersen speculated to Us that King Charles III didn’t have much to do with the recent decision. However, he does agree that it would be “nice” to think that this was a father helping his son.
“I doubt very much that he put his very heavy thumb on the scale,” Andersen said of the monarch. “Charles is a huge believer in sticking to the rules and letting the professionals — in this case the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police — decide who qualifies for royal security protection.”
Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, lost their government-funded security in 2020 after stepping down as senior members of the royal family. Since relocating to the United States, Harry has been estranged from his family. However, the Duke of Sussex started to repair things with Charles in a September 2025 closed-door meeting.
“We can’t overlook the fact that Harry has genuine affection for his father,” Andersen continued. “At least in that sense, this most recent decision is one large step toward repairing that relationship.”
The royal author noted that it’s “very difficult to imagine” Harry’s big win will change things with Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton, who also have tension with the couple.
Prince Harry is to receive a government review of his security needs in the U.K., potentially paving a way forward for his family to reunite with King Charles III. The U.K.’s Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC), which oversees government-funded security protection for the royal family and specific VIPs, has instructed its risk management board […]
“This puts Meghan in a rather awkward position, since I really don’t think she is eager to return to what she sees as a somewhat hostile environment,” Andersen said, noting that Harry and Meghan’s return to the U.K. will be contingent on Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, starting “to forge some sort of real relationship with their grandfather.”
“Charles is a huge softy when it comes to his grandkids, so I’m sure they’d be welcomed with open arms,” Andersen added. “But that doesn’t mean that Harry will ever be fully embraced by the royal family and allowed to return to some sort of semi-official role. That ship has sailed — and that goes double for Meghan.”
As for their immediate future, Andersen didn’t have any thoughts but said that royal watchers should always “stay tuned.”
Harry’s major security win comes months after his appeal for government-funded security was denied in April 2025. Following the decision, Harry spoke candidly about the possibility of bringing his family back to his home country.
“I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point,” the duke said in a BBC interview the following month. “I love my country, I always have done, despite what some people in that country have done.”