Prince Harry’s ‘life at stake’ in security case Court of Appeal hears

Prince Harry’s “safety, security and life” are at stake in his legal challenge to the level of security he receives in the UK, a court has heard.

The prince’s attendance for a two-day hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice “is a potent illustration of how much this appeal means to him and his family”, his lawyer Shaheed Fatima KC said.

He lost a previous challenge in February 2024 against a decision to remove his right to automatic high-level police protection after he quit as a senior royal in 2020.

Ms Fatima said: “One mustn’t forget the human dimension to this case. There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security, whose life is at stake.

“There is a person sitting behind me who is being told he’s getting a special bespoke process when he knows and has experience a process that is manifestly inferior in every respect.”

Harry was pictured arriving at court in central London on Wednesday for the final day of his appeal at about 10.10am shortly before the hearing started.

The 40-year-old was seen writing on light blue sticky notes and quietly talking with his legal team during parts of the hearing.

Ms Fatima said: “His presence here and throughout this appeal is a potent illustration of how much this appeal means to him and his family.”

Some of Wednesday’s hearing was held in private due to sensitive information about security arrangements and threat levels.

“His presence here and throughout this appeal is a potent illustration of how much this appeal means to him and his family.”

The court hearing concluded on Wednesday afternoon with a decision to be delivered in writing at a later date.

Harry’s barrister previously told the court the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) did not get an assessment from an expert specialist body when it changed his security and instead followed a “bespoke” process.

Ms Fatima said: “(Harry) does not accept that ‘bespoke’ means ‘better’. In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.”

In written submissions, Harry’s lawyers said he and his wife Meghan “felt forced to step back” from their roles as senior working royals because they thought “they were not being protected by the institution”.

“But they wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the Royal Family,” they said.

Following Ravec’s decision, al Qaeda called for Harry to “be murdered” in a document stating his “assassination would please the Muslim community”, the court papers said.

‘Dangerous car pursuit’

The papers also highlight an incident in May 2023 when Harry and Meghan “were involved in a dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi in New York City”.

His lawyers said “no formal charges were brought but the investigation found reckless disregard of vehicle and traffic laws and ‘persistently dangerous and unacceptable behaviour on the part of the paparazzi'”.

Sir James Eadie KC, representing the Home Office, said experts, including the chair of Ravec and the chair of the risk management board (RMB), had decided Harry’s “unique circumstances” required a “bespoke approach”.

The prince would be “better served” by this approach and the decision did not mean “personal security of the kind previously provided would under no circumstances be provided”, he told the court.

In written arguments, government lawyers said while they recognise that Harry “disagrees vehemently” with his security arrangements, his views are “legally irrelevant”.

Ravec “implemented the bespoke process” for Harry and so he is “already treated exceptionally”, they argued.