(London) Prince Harry’s lawyer defended on Friday that despite his exile in the US, the Queen’s grandson will “always be at home” in the UK, as part of legal proceedings to obtain police protection.
Posted at 8:52
By ceasing to be working members of the royal family, Harry and his wife Meghan have lost the law enforcement protection afforded to them at the expense of the British taxpayer.
Harry offered to pay the costs and is now challenging the Home Office refusal in court.
The couple, who left the UK in 2020 and settled in California, have special protection in the US, but Harry says the information needed to provide security for his family can’t be accessed on British soil.
His lawyer Shahid Fatima defended during a preliminary hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London: “The plaintiff does not feel safe when in the UK.”
“It goes without saying that he wants to come back to see his family and friends and continue to support the associations very close to his heart,” she said, “but above all, ‘UK’ has always been and will always be home.
For its part, the Ministry of the Interior confirmed in written conclusions that the police security service “is not available on the basis of private funding.” He added that the group responsible for protecting members of the royal family and dignitaries does not make its decisions with a potential financial counterpart in mind.
Last summer, the paparazzi chased Harry’s car after he left a community event. The next day, he and his older brother unveiled a statue of their mother Diana, who died in 1997 in a car crash in Paris while being chased by the paparazzi.
Harry filed this measure in September, but for now, justice has not yet made clear whether he will be granted a hearing on the merits of the lawsuit.
