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Prince Harry wants to visit his friends and family back home in the UK but “does not feel safe” without security, his legal team told the High Court in London on Friday.
The new statements from the Duke of Sussex’s lawyers were made ahead of a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice, which was scheduled after Harry, 37, filed a petition in January that echoed a similar sentiment.
Harry’s attorney said Friday that he wants to bring his children with wife Meghan Markle, 2-year-old son Archie and 8-month-old daughter Lilibet, to visit from the US, but they are “unable to return to his home” because it is “too dangerous.”
Barrister Shaheed Fatima QC said, “This claim is about the fact that the claimant does not feel safe when he is in the UK given the security arrangements that were applied to him in June 2021 and will continue to be applied to him if he returns,” per the Guardian.
“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. Most of all, this is, and always will be, his home.”
A skeleton argument that circulated Friday from the Home Office — the lead government department for immigration and passports, drugs policy, crime, fire, counter-terrorism and police in the UK — showed it plans to argue that that personal protective security for the prince is still considered on a “case-by-case basis” due to Harry’s “exceptional status.” The decision may vary depending on why the royal plans to visit Britain and the functions he will carry out while there.
It claims Harry has also “failed to appreciate the role of the Home Office and the Royal and VIP executive committee (RAVEC), a taskforce of civil servants and Scotland Yard officers, ‘as the expert, and democratically accountable, decision-maker’ on matters of protective security,” according to the Guardian.
A judge is expected to make a ruling at a later time pending more details, including witness statements, which will remain confidential.
In January’s petition, Harry alleged his family “has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats” and threatened to sue the British government if it did not provide additional security (although he already pays for a private team of his own).
Harry even offered to pay for the costs himself so as not to affect the British taxpayers.
“The Duke first offered to pay personally for UK police protection for himself and his family in January of 2020 at Sandringham,” the statement read. “That offer was dismissed. He remains willing to cover the cost of security, as not to impose on the British taxpayer.”
In 2020, Harry and Markle, 40, stepped down from their royal duties and moved to North America amid tension with Buckingham Palace. Security was diminished as a result.
In January, Page Six exclusively learned that Harry considered even skipping his grandfather Prince Philip’s memorial over the security issues. The event is scheduled for March 29.
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