NEW DELHI: Prince Harry on Wednesday lost a high court challenge against the UK government’ decision to downgrade personal security when visiting the country.
The Duke of Sussex brought the action against the government in London following the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) to accord him a lesser degree of security after he was no longer a working member of the royal family.
Harry, King Charles’ younger son and other senior royals had received full publicly-funded security protection provided by the state before he stepped down from his royal duties and moved to the US with his wife Meghan in March 2020.
Earlier, Prince Harry’s lawyers told the high-court that his treatment was “unlawful and unfair” after the decision to change the level of his taxpayer-funded personal security. They warned of “the impact on the UK’s reputation of a successful attack” against the duke.
But the government’s legal team said the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as RAVEC, had not decided Harry should not receive protection, but that he should not have it on the same basis.
The committee that made the decision to reject his security request considered the wider impact that the ‘tragic death’ of his mother, the late Princess Diana, had on the nation, and in making its decision gave greater weight to the “likely significant public upset were a successful attack” on her son to happen, attorney James Eadie said.
Harry has earlier broken ranks with royal family tradition in his willingness to go to court to challenge both the government and take on tabloids in his effort to hold publishers accountable for hounding him throughout his life.
The lawsuit was one of six cases Harry has brought in the High Court. Three were related to his security arrangements and three have been against tabloid publishers for allegedly hacking phones and using private investigators to snoop on his life for news stories.
In his first case to go to trial, Harry won a big victory last year against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over phone hacking allegations, winning a judgment in court and ultimately settling remaining allegations that were due to go to trial.
The Duke of Sussex brought the action against the government in London following the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) to accord him a lesser degree of security after he was no longer a working member of the royal family.
Harry, King Charles’ younger son and other senior royals had received full publicly-funded security protection provided by the state before he stepped down from his royal duties and moved to the US with his wife Meghan in March 2020.
Earlier, Prince Harry’s lawyers told the high-court that his treatment was “unlawful and unfair” after the decision to change the level of his taxpayer-funded personal security. They warned of “the impact on the UK’s reputation of a successful attack” against the duke.
But the government’s legal team said the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as RAVEC, had not decided Harry should not receive protection, but that he should not have it on the same basis.
The committee that made the decision to reject his security request considered the wider impact that the ‘tragic death’ of his mother, the late Princess Diana, had on the nation, and in making its decision gave greater weight to the “likely significant public upset were a successful attack” on her son to happen, attorney James Eadie said.
Harry has earlier broken ranks with royal family tradition in his willingness to go to court to challenge both the government and take on tabloids in his effort to hold publishers accountable for hounding him throughout his life.
The lawsuit was one of six cases Harry has brought in the High Court. Three were related to his security arrangements and three have been against tabloid publishers for allegedly hacking phones and using private investigators to snoop on his life for news stories.
In his first case to go to trial, Harry won a big victory last year against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over phone hacking allegations, winning a judgment in court and ultimately settling remaining allegations that were due to go to trial.