GREAT BRITAIN – Prince Harry continues to argue in court over police protection when he visits home

Prince Harry did not attend the opening of the trial in London Image: AFP

Prince Harry is now suing the British Home Office in a years-long dispute over security precautions during his visits to Great Britain. He demands that he not only get police protection on a case-by-case basis when he goes home.

In the years-long controversy over security precautions during his visits to Great Britain, Prince Harry is leading another inquiry. In the absence of the prince, his lawyer Shaheed Fatima explained at the start of the hearing on Tuesday that the British Home Office was denying him the right to protection in his home country. Youngest son of King Charles III. He deserves protection because of “his status, his history and his position within the royal family”.

Harry and his wife Meghan retired from their royal duties in April 2020 and now live in California with their two children. As a result, both lost taxpayer-funded police protection in Great Britain. The British Home Office has refused to send police officers to protect Harry when he travels to his home country, although the prince himself wants to cover the cost of the deployment.

The proceedings, which began on Tuesday at London’s High Court, specifically concern the Home Office’s decision to provide police protection to Prince Harry on a case-by-case basis in February 2020. His lawyer criticized this as bringing “extreme uncertainty” to the prince and his security team. In written submissions to the court, he insisted that an attack on the Duke of Sussex in his old homeland would tarnish Britain’s reputation.

Lawyer James Eady, representing the Home Office in the process, defended the promise of limited protection. The fact that Prince Harry only receives police protection “under certain conditions” and “depending on the circumstances” is due to the “change in his status” brought about by the Prince himself’s decision “to no longer be a member of the Royal Family”. An official function.”

In America, Harry and Meghan use their own personal security team. However, they argue that their guardians in the UK do not have sufficient skills or access to intelligence to protect the family. Prince Harry has therefore offered to cover the cost of his own police protection during his stay in Great Britain.

However, the Home Ministry also rejected this in May. Treasury lawyers argued that it was “not appropriate” that the wealthy should be able to “buy” government protections, having previously decided that taxpayer-funded protections for them were not in the public interest.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s security came into focus again in mid-May when paparazzi followed them in their car in New York. Prince Harry’s mother Diana died on August 31, 1997 in a paparazzi chase. That’s why his relationship with the tabloid media is so tense; He has already taken legal action against them several times.

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