PRINCE HARRY ASKED TO GIVE 28 DAYS NOTICE BEFORE RETURNING TO UK FOR SECURITY REASONS
Prince Harry was told to give a 28-day notice of his planned trips to the UK in order for his security requests to be assessed, court documents showed. The Duke of Sussex was informed it would then be a matter for the Home Office to consider if the requested arrangements were necessary.
After these terms were shared with him, the Duke - who lost his taxpayer-funded police protection when he stepped down as a working royal in the spring of 2020 - hit back at the Home Office committee responsible for royal security.
Harry, who served in two tours of duty in Afghanistan, asked the group in March 2020 to give him an example of someone bearing his same threat assessment who had stopped receiving security after leaving public duty.
He said: "I would like them to provide an example of where someone else has left 'public duty' with the same threat assessment as me, and received no security.
He added: "I was born into this and the threat will never decrease because of my status regarding the family."
In a summary of his claim against the Home Office's Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC), the lawyers of Prince Harry expressed how "gravely concerned" the Duke is "about his safety and security during future trips to the UK".
The 28 days notice request and the following security assessment, the lawyers also said, create uncertainty and could threaten Harry's safety.
They stated: "It hinders their ability to plan for and manage his security arrangements; may lead to [the Duke's] actual arrangements being inadequate and compromise his ultimate security."
The court documents also showed how Harry criticised the arrangements made for the private visit he paid to the UK for a few days between late June and early July 2021, when he attended an event linked to his WellChild patronage and unveiled with Prince William the statue of Princess Diana at Kensington Palace.
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The Duke described them as "patchy, disjointed and inadequate".
One of Harry's legal representatives had already mentioned issues related to that solo trip to the UK in a statement shared in January 2022, which confirmed the Duke was seeking a judicial review over the Home Office's decision regarding his security arrangements.
The message read: "During his last visit to the UK in July 2021 - to unveil a statue in honour of his late mother - his security was compromised due to the absence of police protection, whilst leaving a charity event."
The new details regarding the ongoing dispute between the Duke of Sussex and the Home Office were first shared by the Daily Telegraph and emerged in legal documents relating to a separate libel claim launched by Harry against the Mail on Sunday.
The Duke is suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of the Sunday newspaper, over an article released in February last year concerning his legal challenge with the Government over his security arrangements.
The article, titled "Exclusive: How Prince Harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret... then - just minutes after the story broke - his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute", alleged the Duke had tried to keep "secret" parts of his legal fight with the Home Office and had tried to "spin" the dispute in his favour by claiming he had offered to pay for his family's protection when in the UK himself.
The publisher is contesting the claim, arguing the article expressed an "honest opinion" and did not cause "serious harm" to the royal's reputation.
During a hearing held on Friday, the court heard the Duke had "made it clear" in an email to Sir Edward Young, the Queen's private secretary, dating back to April 2020 "we couldn't afford private security until we were able to earn".