Prince Harry will reportedly find out this month if his automatic police protection when in the UK is being restored after a long battle over his security arrangements
Prince Harry’s relations with the Palace are reportedly strained once again amid his long-running battle over his police protection. After losing his legal case to have his automatic police protection while in the UK reinstated, in a major U-turn, the Home Office is said to have now ordered a full threat assessment for the first time since 2020.
The outcome of the review by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), is expected this month, with sources close to Harry said to be ‘confident’ it could be restored – paving the way for him to bring wife Meghan and children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to the UK to visit.
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Insiders previously claimed that having his automatic police protection was “nailed on” and that if a decision did not go Harry’s way, it would suggest an “intervention from the Palace”.
However, a former royal aide has hit back at such suggestion saying it is “both unjust and inaacurate”. The told The Times: “The palace has no such powers within Ravec. While they sit on the committee it is not their role to advise on threat analysis or appropriate mitigations.
“That is for the actual intelligence and security experts to advise on — as of course they do whenever the duke’s visits to the UK are being reviewed under the existing Ravec process.”
Meanwhile government sources also told the publication that a risk assessment for Harry had not been finished. A source explained: “I have no idea what the RMB recommendation to Ravec [the Royal and VIP executive committee] will be, but what I do know with certainty is that neither does anyone else, since they are still undertaking the review.”
It comes as Harry is not expected to meet his father, the King, when he returns to the UK this month for his trial against the publisher of the Daily Mail, it is understood.
Harry is set to travel from California to London for the start of his High Court legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL). He was reunited with Charles for the first time in 19 months on his last visit in September, and the pair had afternoon tea at Clarence House, with the duke describing his father as “great”.
But the monarch is expected to be in Scotland for his traditional post-Christmas stay when the trial is due to start on January 19, although the date and timetable have yet to be finalised.
The Telegraph reported that royal sources acknowledged the King did not wish to be linked to any court proceedings, so will give his son a wide berth on this occasion.
In May, the duke gave an interview to the BBC in which he claimed the King would not speak to him because of his legal fight with the Home Office over security and he did not know “how much longer my father has” as he described his hopes for a “reconciliation”.
The sit-down chat came after the duke lost a Court of Appeal challenge over his security arrangements while in the UK. A spokesman for Harry said they do not comment on security arrangements.
Source: Mirror
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