According to the Daily Mail, Prince Harry could fail in his high-profile bid for taxpayer-funded security because the Home Office apparently fears a public backlash if it is granted. Prince Harry has insisted that both he and his wife Meghan and their children should all receive official police protection if they visit the UK. The protection which is funded by the public purse for all senior royals was taken away from the couple when they decided to step down from their royal duties.
Harry has previously said that it is unsafe to bring his family to the UK without it being in place. As a result, his children Archie, now 6, and Lilibet, now 4, have not seen their grandfather, the King, since February 2022 when they visited the UK as part of the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. ' Despite the High Court loss, his direct appeal to then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper led to his request being assessed again anyway by the body which authorises security for senior royals, The Royal and VIP Executive Committee (commonly known as Ravec).
As recently as last month, with police and security chiefs apparently agreeing that Harry must be protected, reinstatement of his protection looked assured with it expected to be rubber stamped within weeks. However, it has been reported today that senior civil servants on Ravec from the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and the Foreign Office are all against granting the protection, fearing the public's adverse reaction to the taxpayer having to foot the bill for the Sussexes' security. While a final decision has yet to be made, a Home Office source told today's Telegraph that there had been a split on the board.
According to the Daily Mail, the cost of any protection likely to run into millions should it be granted and if and when the family visit the UK. ' Since Harry and Meghan's departure from the UK in 2020, when the Metropolitan Police stopped providing security for the couple, they have been responsible for their own security which would include round the clock security at their estate in Montecito, California, and security for visits overseas. Harry dramatically claimed in the couple's sensational tell all Oprah interview in 2021 that the Royal Family had cut them off financially when they quit the UK.
It remains unclear when the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) will make a final decision on Prince Harry's security request.