By Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Sophie Tanno, CNN
London (CNN) — The Duke of Sussex has lost a legal challenge to the British government’s decision to downgrade his security arrangements while in the United Kingdom.
Prince Harry, the younger son of King Charles, had been seeking to overturn a UK High Court ruling last year over the decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC) to downgrade his security.
RAVEC changed his protection status in February 2020 after he and wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex stepped down as working members of the British royal family and instead revealed their plans to split their time between the UK and North America.
Last year, retired High Court judge Peter Lane refused to allow a judicial review of the RAVEC roll-back, as requested by Harry, concluding that the committee’s approach was not irrational or unlawful, and “there was no procedural unfairness.”
Harry, 40, returned to the UK for the two-day hearing at the Court of Appeals in London in April. In that hearing, Harry’s barrister Shaheed Fatima argued the judge had been mistaken and that that the duke had been “singled out for different unjustified and inferior treatment” by the committee.
Instead, she told the panel of three judges in the appeals court that the body opted for “a different and so-called ‘bespoke’ process” but “the appellant (Harry) does not accept that ‘bespoke’ means ‘better.’”
James Eadie laid out the arguments on behalf of the Home Office, the ministry responsible for RAVEC, telling the court that the decision had never been to withdraw the duke’s security, but rather that it “would not be provided on the same basis as before.”
He said the decision had been made because of Harry’s transition from being a working royal and living overseas, arguing that this approach better served the fifth-in-line to the throne.
Personal security is a deeply personal issue for Prince Harry, who has revealed fears for his family’s safety repeatedly over the years. He has spoken previously of wanting to return to the UK more frequently, telling the High Court in December 2023 that the UK is “central to the heritage of my children” and that he wants them to “feel at home” in the UK as much as in the United States.
The-CNN-Wire
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