Prince Harry loses legal challenge over security downgrade

Prince Harry lost a long-running legal battle over threats to his security in Britain when a High Court judge ruled on Wednesday that the British government had the right to change the level of police protection for a member of the royal family who is no longer performing official duties.

In a Judgment of 51 pagesThe judge, Peter Lane, rejected Harry’s challenge to the decision, stating that the British Home Office, through the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, had not been procedurally unfair or irrational in changing his security level.

It was a painful setback for Harry, who has faced a series of legal battles over both his safety and privacy. Earlier this month, he won at least 400,000 pounds ($506,000) in damages from the publisher of The Daily Mirror, a London tabloid, over “widespread and habitual” hacking of his cell phone voicemail.

Harry lost his automatic taxpayer-funded protection from the Metropolitan Police when he and his wife Meghan stepped back from their royal duties in 2020 and eventually moved to Southern California. The prince has argued that he cannot safely visit Britain with his family without that higher level of protection. Last May, he lost an attempt to pay for police protection out of his own pocket in a parallel lawsuit.

In the United States, Harry and Meghan are protected by bodyguards who are licensed to carry weapons. But traveling in Britain poses a particular challenge because their private security guards are not allowed to carry weapons.

The couple’s safety was thrust into the spotlight last year when Harry and Meghan, along with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, were swarmed by photographers after leaving an awards ceremony in Midtown Manhattan.

A spokeswoman for the couple described “a near-catastrophic chase by a gang of very aggressive paparazzi”, although a taxi driver transporting the three said there had been no chase and there was no reason for his passengers to be afraid. even though they were clearly alarmed.

At the time, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department said the photographers posed a challenge, but that the three arrived at their destination on the Upper East Side with no “reported collisions, citations, injuries or arrests.”

However, on Wednesday it emerged that Harry’s lawyers had submitted a copy of a letter from the head of New York Police Department intelligence, John B. Hart, to the Supreme Court, which said that after a subsequent investigation the police had concluded came to light that the paparazzi had behaved recklessly that night. There was enough evidence, Mr. Hart wrote, in a letter dated December 6, 2023, to arrest two people for reckless endangerment.

“They had driven vehicles, scooters and bicycles in a manner that forced the security team, including the NYPD lead car, to take evasive action on several occasions and take a circuitous route to avoid being hit by pursuing vehicles or got trapped in side blocks.” the judge wrote, citing the letter Mr Hart sent to Richard Smith, the Metropolitan Police’s commander of royal and specialist protection.

Mr Hart said the incident prompted the NYPD to change security procedures for the couple during subsequent visits to New York, although the details were redacted in the judgment, as were details of their protection in Britain.

The statement about Harry’s safety came amid a new round of speculation about the well-being of senior members of the royal family. On Tuesday, Prince William abruptly withdrew from a memorial service for King Constantine of Greece, his godfather, citing a “personal matter.”

William’s wife, Catherine, is recovering from abdominal surgery in January. An official at Kensington Palace, where the couple have their offices, said Tuesday that Catherine was doing well, but did not elaborate.

King Charles III, who is undergoing treatment for an unknown form of cancer, also missed the service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Queen Camilla replaced her husband. Buckingham Palace officials said William’s cancellation was not related to his father’s health.