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Prince Harry loses opportunity to challenge police protection decision

A judge will not hear the argument that Prince Harry would like to pay the cost of private police protection when he visits the United Kingdom.

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The Duke of Sussex claimed that the British government exceeded its authority when it said he was forbidden from hiring police officers to protect him and his family while in the U.K., The Associated Press reported.

The judge rejected the request for a judicial review of the government’s decision, BBC News reported on Tuesday.

Harry and his wife, the former Meghan Markle, stepped down from being working royals in 2020 and settled in California, losing the right to have an automatic police security detail, Reuters reported.

Harry has said that he doesn’t feel safe when he travels to the U.K. with his family. Britain’s former counter-terrorism police chief said there had been threats made against the prince and his wife by far-right extremists, according to Reuters.

Harry’s lawyers said that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, or RAVEC, did not have the authority to reject his offer to pay for police protection and that if the group had the authority to deny it, it was wrong not to consider or hear claims on his behalf, Reuters reported.

When Harry’s private security guards are in the U.K., they are not allowed to be armed with guns, The New York Times reported. Harry said that when he was a working royal, he always had three armed bodyguards.

The government’s lawyers said it would be wrong to allow Harry to pay for police protection, claiming that the wealthy could then “buy” police to be private bodyguards, CNN reported.

The case was argued the same day that Harry and Meghan claimed they were involved in a “near catastrophic car chase” with paparazzi in New York, the AP reported. The alleged chase did not result in any injuries, arrests or citations, but police did confirm that the couple had a difficult time getting to their destination.

The cab driver who briefly drove the couple and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, said there was no chase and that, while they may have been alarmed, there was no reason for Harry and Meghan to be frightened, The New York Times reported.

There is still an active review of the original decision to remove Harry from having taxpayer-funded protection.

Harry also has several cases against British tabloids and allegations of libel or phone hacking, the AP reported.

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