Prince Harry given green light to appeal legal challenge over personal security when duke visits UK
Prince Harry will be appealing the legal challenge
Reuters
Prince Harry has been given the green light to appeal a legal challenge over his personal security when the Duke of Sussex visits the UK.
The Duke of Sussex will now be able to appeal the dismissal of his previous High Court challenge.
Harry took legal action against the Home Office over its February 2020 decision that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
In a judgment in February 2024, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke’s case.
Prince Harry given green light to appeal legal challenge over security in UK
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However, Harry has been given the green light to challenge Sir Peter’s dismissal at the Court of Appeal.
Sir Peter claimed the duke's lawyers had taken “an inappropriate, formalist interpretation of the Ravec process”.
He added: “The ‘bespoke’ process devised for the claimant in the decision of February 28 2020 was, and is, legally sound.”
The judge said he accepted comments from Sir Richard Mottram, the former chairman of Ravec, who said that, even if he had received a document setting out all of Harry’s legal arguments in February 2020, “I would have reached the same decision for materially the same reasons”.
Prince Harry believes he should have police protection in the UK
PA
The Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) is responsible for providing protective security arrangements for members of the Royal Family.
After the ruling earlier this year, a legal spokesman for Harry said: “The duke is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a fair and lawful application of Ravec’s own rules, ensuring that he receives the same consideration as others in accordance with Ravec’s own written policy.
“In February 2020, Ravec failed to apply its written policy to the Duke of Sussex and excluded him from a particular risk analysis.
“The duke’s case is that the so-called ‘bespoke process’ that applies to him is no substitute for that risk analysis.
Prince Harry was stripped from police security after moving to the US
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Prince Harry claims he is 'not asking for preferential treatment'
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“The Duke of Sussex hopes he will obtain justice from the Court of Appeal, and makes no further comment while the case is ongoing.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were stripped of their taxpayer-funded police protection when they stepped down from working royals in 2020.
They now live in the US with their children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three.