Prince Harry, through his legal team, has confirmed that he doesn’t feel safe returning to Britain.
On February 18 the Duke of Sussex’s lawyer made a statement to the High Court in London in a preliminary hearing to address the question of police protection for the Sussexes. “This claim is about the fact that the claimant does not feel safe when he is in the U.K. given the security arrangements that were applied to him in June 2021 and will continue to be applied to him if he decides to come back,” attorney Shaheed Fatima said at the Royal Courts of Justice, per The Guardian.
Fatima continued, “And, of course, it should go without saying that he wants to come back: to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart. This is, and will remain, his home.
Their taxpayer-funded police protection was cut off when Prince Harry, Meghan Meghan and their son Archie stepped away as working royals in 2020. They have spoken out about the need to have security on numerous occasions. (When the family first relocated to California, they stayed at one of Tyler Perry’s properties because he also gave them the use of his security team.)
In 2020, Prince Harry reportedly offered the U.K. to pay for police protection from his own funds while in Britain, citing threats by neoNazis. However, he was not allowed to do this. In January 2022 his legal team sought another judicial review to allow the royal to pay for his own security team while in the U.K. At the time Prince Harry released a statement alluding to “compromised” security during his last visit to the U.K., to unveil a statue of his late mother, Princess Diana.
The statement from January referenced an incident in which the royal was “chased by photographers” as he left a charity event. Notably, his mother was also killed by a chase by photographers. Harry has spoken before about his fear of history repeating.
Twitter content
You can also view this content on the website it originates from.
“While [Prince Harry’s] role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the Royal Family has not,” the statement emphasized. “Nor has the threat to him and his family.”
Source: Glamour