On May 2, 2025, Prince Harry lost his legal challenge against the UK government’s decision to revoke his automatic entitlement to police protection while in Britain. The Court of Appeal upheld a previous High Court ruling, stating that the decision by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) was lawful. Judge Geoffrey Vos acknowledged Harry’s feelings of being “badly treated” but concluded that this did not constitute a legal basis to overturn RAVEC’s decision.

Harry’s legal team argued that he faced ongoing security threats, citing a 2023 paparazzi pursuit in New York and threats from al Qaeda. They contended that the removal of automatic police protection was unjustified and posed risks to his safety. However, government lawyers maintained that the bespoke security arrangements for Harry offered practical advantages and were appropriate given his changed status after stepping down from royal duties in 2020.

Following the court’s decision, Prince Harry expressed his disappointment in an interview, stating he was “pretty gutted about the decision” and emphasized his desire for reconciliation with his family. He revealed that he is not currently speaking with his father, King Charles, due to disagreements over security arrangements. Harry also expressed sadness over the possibility of not being able to bring his children to experience his homeland, the UK.

Harry has moved to the United States with his wife Meghan, had sought to overturn a decision by the Home Office, the ministry responsible for policing.

A specialist body decided in February 2020 that Harry would not automatically receive personal police protection while in Britain, which London’s High Court last year ruled was lawful.

On Friday, that decision was upheld by three Court of Appeal judges who said that, while Harry understandably felt aggrieved, that did not amount to an error of law.

“Obviously, pretty gutted about the decision,” Harry, who now lives in California with Meghan and their two children, told the BBC.

He added: “My status hasn’t changed – it can’t change. I am who I am, I am part of what I am part of, I can’t escape that.”

Harry claimed that “security was used as leverage” to try and keep him and Meghan within the royal fold, but said he wanted to be reconciled with his family.

“What I’m struggling to forgive, and what I will probably always struggle to forgive, is that a decision that was made in 2020 that affects my every single day and that is knowingly putting me and my family in harm’s way,” he said in the interview from California.

Buckingham Palace said in relation to Harry’s legal case: “All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”

Judge Geoffrey Vos said that Harry’s lawyer had made “powerful and moving arguments” about the impact of the security change, but that did not make the change unlawful.

The Home Office welcomed the decision. “The UK government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate”, it said.

Source: Reuters