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Prince Harry on Tuesday lost a legal bid to challenge the British government’s decision barring him from paying for police protection during his visits to the UK.
The Duke of Sussex, 38, and his wife, Meghan Markle, 41, were stripped of taxpayer-funded police protection after they stepped back from being “working royals” and moved to the US in 2020.
Harry’s lawyers had sought a judicial review of the government’s refusal of his offer to hire police officers as his private security detail. But London’s High Court ruled Tuesday to deny the review.
The decision to remove publicly-funded security was made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as RAVEC.
Last week, Prince Harry’s lawyers argued during a one-day hearing that RAVEC did not have the authority to reject his offer to pay police for security — and even if it did, it was wrong not to consider an exception, or hear his challenge.
“Parliament has clearly decided that in principle, payment for policing is not inconsistent with the public interest,” Harry’s lawyers wrote.
Home Office lawyers had opposed the move, arguing that it would be wrong to allow wealthy people to “buy” highly trained officers as private bodyguards, who are expected to put themselves in harm’s way.
