Prince Harry has lost his high-stakes appeal to reinstate his state-funded United Kingdom security. He said that it was unjustly revoked after he stepped back from royal duties and relocated to the United States in 2020 via PEOPLE.
Judge Sir Geoffrey Vos has dismissed the appeal on Friday, May 2nd and added that the two other judges agreed with his opinion.
Delivering the verdict, Vos said, “The Duke was, in effect, stepping in and out of the cohort of protection provided by RAVEC [the government’s Royal and VIP Executive Committee]. Outside the U.K., he was outside the cohort, but when in the U.K., his security would be considered as appropriate depending on the circumstances. It was impossible, I said in my judgment, to say that this reasoning was illogical or inappropriate. Indeed, it seemed sensible.”
“Even if there had been a risk analysis from the Risk Management Board, it would very likely have only confirmed the threat, vulnerability and impact levels which the Duke of Sussex had faced when earlier risk analyses were undertaken,” the judge added. “But it would have had nothing to say on the critical features of the changed situation, namely the need for protective security on future uncertain visits and the government’s appetite for risk.”
The judge labeled RAVEC’s decision on Prince Harry’s security “understandable and perhaps predictable.”
The Duke of Sussex had traveled from his California home to attend the two-day hearing at the Royal Court of Justice in London on April 8th and 9th. It is noted that for years, he’s been fighting for the restoration of automatic, state-funded security during his visits to the U.K., and as he left court on April 9, he told PEOPLE he was feeling “exhausted and overwhelmed.”
For Prince Harry, this legal battle has been described by his legal team as a fight for his life.
