Prince Harry's bid to hire police security for his family while in Britain has been denied.
On May 23rd, a High Court judge in London didn't grant Harry the option to hire his own protection while overseas. He stated he doesn't feel safe in the U.K. with his children, due to unwanted attention from photographers.
“Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life. He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats. While his role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the royal family has not. Nor has the threat to him and his family.”
It has been argued the police officers in the U.K are there for the public's best interest, and not as “private bodyguards for the wealthy.”
Harry and Meghan lost their security team after they stopped working for the royal family in 2020.
In his memoir 'Spare,' Harry said he "never" thought they would no longer be provided with royal security detail.
“Not in this climate of hate. Not after what happened to my mother [Princess Diana]. Also, not in the wake of my Uncle Andrew. He was embroiled in a shameful scandal, accused of the sexual assault of a young woman and no one had so much suggested that he lose his security. Whatever grievances people had against us, sex crimes weren’t on the list."
After the two moved to the US, he has returned to England many times solo. He was most recently there to attend the coronation of his father, King Charles III. The children's only known visit was for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.
Meghan had also retuned for her funeral that September.
This loss in court comes just after an incident in New York that was described as a “near catastrophic car chase” with “a ring of highly aggressive” photographers following them on May 16th.
“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers. While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety. Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all involved.”
“The NYPD assisted the private security team protecting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. There were numerous photographers that made their transport challenging. There were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests in regard.”
Harry and Meghan have also released a statement surrounding the incident, and demanded the photo agency “immediately provide us with copies of all photos, videos, and/or films taken” from the evening as questions about the incident began to make headlines.
“In America, as I’m sure you know, property belongs to the owner of it: Third parties cannot just demand it be given to them, as perhaps Kings can do. Perhaps you should sit down with your client and advise them that his English rules of royal prerogative to demand that the citizenry hand over their property to the Crown were rejected by this country long ago. We stand by our founding fathers.”
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