London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Prince Harry says UK still his home as he bids for police security on visits

Prince Harry says UK still his home as he bids for police security on visits

Lawyers for Prince Harry say the UK will always be his home, amid a row over whether he can have police security when he visits from the USA.

In a first hearing of his action against the home secretary, lawyers told the High Court he didn't feel safe visiting under current arrangements.

He wants to pay for police security for himself and his family while in the UK.

Government lawyers said his offer was "irrelevant" to how officials took decisions over Royal Family security.

During Friday's hearing, which was focused on what parts of the case should be kept confidential, Prince Harry's barrister Shaheed Fatima QC said his ties to the UK remained strong.

"It goes without saying that he does want to come back to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart," said Ms Fatima.

"Most of all, this is and always will be his home."

But she said that he did not feel safe in the UK, under the type of security arrangements that had been in place when he visited last summer.

The prince returned briefly in June and July 2021 for the unveiling of a memorial statue to his mother. He also attended a garden party for seriously-ill children and young people, as a patron of the charity Wellchild.

According to some reports, his car was chased by photographers as he left the event. Prince Harry's legal action began in the wake of that visit and following correspondence with the Home Office.

Decisions over Prince Harry's personal security in the UK are taken by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, also known as Ravec.

This secret body answering to the home secretary is responsible for deciding who should be protected by the police - and how much they need.

Details of its work are never made public to prevent potential attackers learning more about the protective measures it places around public figures.

According to court papers, after Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, stepped back from public life as working members of the Royal Family and moved to the USA in 2020, Ravec placed him in an "exceptional category", meaning his future police protection in the UK would depend on the specific circumstances of each visit.

In his claim, Prince Harry says that Ravec reached this decision unlawfully and unreasonably - including because he has offered to pay for the police time needed and was still in the immediate line of succession to the throne.

He further argues that his private protection team do not have all the powers they would need to act in the UK, including access to police intelligence about threats to him and his family.

Prince Harry briefly visited the UK in July 2021, when he and the Duke of Cambridge unveiled a statue to his mother


But in written submissions to the court, lawyers for the Home Secretary said that Prince Harry's claim was completely without merit - and it should be thrown out because it wasn't for the court to second-guess complex decisions about personal security.

Robert Palmer QC, for the Home Secretary, wrote: "The claimant has failed to afford the necessary measure of respect to the defendant and Ravec as the expert, and democratically accountable, decision-maker on matters of protective security and associated risk assessment.

"It is the role of Ravec to consider whether an individual such as the claimant falls within its cohort qualifying for publicly funded personal protection security at all and if so, the extent to which any such protection security should be provided," said Robert Palmer QC, for the Home Secretary.

"The claimant's grounds... rely upon a set of circumstance which the claimant considers are sufficient to warrant his receiving personal protective security by the police for life, regardless of what, if any, duties he carries out on behalf of the state."

Mr Palmer said the offer to pay for the police's protection was irrelevant because personal protective security by the police "is not available on a privately financed basis".

Mr Justice Swift will rule at a later date on what parts of the case will become public, before a subsequent decision on whether the claim will be heard in full.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
×