UK treated Prince Harry ‘unfairly’
Prince Harry says he was “singled out” for “unjustified, inferior treatment” in a surprise appearance at London’s Royal Courts of Justice.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, flew into the United Kingdom to fight the British government over changes made to his security detail after he stepped down from royal duties.
The King’s younger son is trying to overturn a decision by the Home Office – the ministry responsible for policing – from February 2020 that he would not automatically receive personal police security while in Britain.
Last year, the High Court in London ruled that the decision was lawful, dismissed Harry’s case, and refused him permission to challenge that ruling in a higher court.
The Duke of Sussex arrived smiling and waving at court on Tuesday, with pictures shown widely across British media. He listened intently as the two-day hearing in front of three senior appeal court judges began in a packed courtroom.
Harry’s lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, branded the security decision unfair and unjustified.
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She said the agency that protected royal and public figures had treated the prince on a “bespoke” basis not applied to anyone else.
“It means he has been singled out for different, unjustified and unfair treatment,” she said, saying Harry did not want to be treated as he was when a working member of the royal family, but wanted to be considered on the same basis as others.
According to The Sun newspaper, Harry flew in from his home in California on Monday.
It was not clear if he would see any of his family, from whom he has become estranged since his public criticism of his relatives and royal aides.
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The King and Harry’s stepmother, the Queen, are on a state visit to Italy, where they will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday.
Harry’s trip also comes amid a high-profile, bitter dispute with the chief executive of his charity Sentebale, which he founded in honour of his late mother, Princess Diana.
Sophie Chandauka has accused him of bullying and racism, while Harry, who stepped down from his role at the charity, called what happened “heartbreaking”.
At the outset of Tuesday’s hearing, Geoffrey Vos, the second most senior judge in England and Wales, said some of the evidence could not be given in public, but he wanted as much as possible heard openly.
Harry, along with other senior royals, had full publicly-funded security protection before he stepped back from his royal duties and moved to the US with his American wife Meghan Markle in March 2020.
The Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as RAVEC, then decided Harry would no longer receive the same level of state-funded protection.
In its submission to the court, the government said his security would be based on the circumstances.
“The decision was not that [Harry] would under no circumstances be provided with protective security when in Great Britain,” it said.
“Rather, the decision was that, his position having materially changed, protective security would not be authorised on the same basis as before.”
Harry’s case against the government is one of several legal forays he has made in recent years, having taken action against British newspapers over invasions of privacy and phone-hacking.
