The youngest son of the British King Charles III. lost his attempt to appeal the court decision, a court spokesman said on Monday.
Harry filed a lawsuit after the British government told him in 2020 that he would no longer receive the “same level” of publicly funded police protection while in the United Kingdom after stepping down from his royal duties.
Acted lawfully
The London High Court ruled in February that the British government had acted lawfully. A spokesman for Harry said at the time that the prince, who lives in the United States, would turn to the appeal court “to seek justice.” Ultimately, the Duke of Sussex is not demanding “preferential treatment”, but only a “fair and legal” application of the personal protection rules, his spokesman explained.
Harry and his wife, the former US actress Meghan Markle, withdrew from their royal duties in 2020. They now live with their children Archie and Lilibet in Meghan’s homeland of California. The British authorities subsequently decided to only decide on police protection for Prince Harry and his family on a case-by-case basis and no longer grant it in principle.
“I can’t endanger my wife’s life like that.”
Harry told a court hearing in December that security concerns stopped him from traveling to Britain. “The United Kingdom is my home. The United Kingdom is central to my children’s heritage,” Prince Harry said in a written statement read out in court. However, he cannot visit Great Britain with his family “if it is not possible to protect them.”
“I cannot endanger my wife’s life like that and, given my life experience, I am also reluctant to endanger myself unnecessarily,” Harry emphasized. His lawyers also argued that Prince Harry’s bodyguards did not have sufficient powers to adequately protect him in the United Kingdom. In addition, they would have no access to British intelligence information.
Prince Harry rarely visits his home country anymore. The relationship with the royal family, especially with his older brother Crown Prince William, is shattered. After it became known that his father Charles III had cancer. At the beginning of February, Prince Harry immediately visited the king in London.
