An expensive joke for the Duke of Sussex.
The Sussexes are already heading into an exciting time with the impending launch of Meghan’s label American Riviera Orchard. But not everything is going well for them: Harry has also lost his court case for his security on appeal. Moreover, there is even more bad news lurking for the prince…
Court case
If the variety of Sussex lawsuits has left you in the dark, Harry filed a case against the British Home Office in 2020. They are responsible, among other things, for RAVEC (the Royal and VIP Executive Committee), which arranges security for all kinds of royals and other prominent figures.
After Haz and Megs left for Montecito and retired as working royals, the RAVEC decided that they would not receive standard security from the British state either. Instead, this would be decided on a case-by-case basis, but in practice Harry has not had security from the British state on any of his recent visits to his home country.
Appeal
At the end of February, Harry heard that all his demands were rejected by the judge, Sir Peter Lane. At the time, a spokesperson for the prince announced that he would appeal against the rejection.
But that idea is now also being scrapped. Harry’s first request to the so-called court of appeal to reconsider his case has been rejected. Lane argued that the request for review essentially amounted to a total rehash of the earlier process. And that is not the most useful use of your time as a busy court, of course.
Tip: are you also following us on Pinterest? Here we regularly share the best news in the royalty field!
From the rain into the drip
On top of that, Harry also had to apologize for leaking confidential information about his own case. For example, the Duke is said to have shared secret information from the case by email with third parties, such as good friend Johnny Mercer, the British Minister for Veterans Affairs.
To top it all off, Harry has to pay 90% of the Home Office’s legal costs. Harry himself would have committed to paying 40% of these bills, which would amount to an amount in excess of half a million pounds. A quick calculation shows that these costs for the Duke amount to at least £1.125 million. Aiii…that’s going to take a lot of jars of jam to sell before you raise that amount!
Although Harry’s legal team claimed that they would be entitled to a substantial discount due to poor information provision and ‘partial success’, the judge did not agree. The fact that the court did not agree with the Home Office on every argument is irrelevant, according to Lane. “It doesn’t change the fact that the plaintiff [de zaak] completely lost.” Unfortunately peanut butter, Harry!
Source: The Guardian, The Telegraph | Image: NL Image
