The prince was reportedly clearly warned.
Never a dull moment with Prince Harry! The Duke of Sussex may be in Montecito these days, but he still has several lawsuits pending in the United Kingdom. Today the prince (or at least his lawyer) heard his demands to the British Home Office were rejected by the local judge.
Court case
With all the legal fuss surrounding the Duke of Sussex, you could be forgiven if you can’t see the forest for the trees. The case that was decided today had to do with Harry’s security.
With the departure of the Sussexes to the United States and their exit as working royals, Harry’s standard security from RAVEC (Royal and VIP Executive Committee) was also stopped at the beginning of 2020. Instead, this would be decided on a case-by-case basis, but in fact Harry has not had security from the British state on any of his recent visits to his home country.
Instead of security via RAVEC, which is financed, among other things, by British taxpayers, the Duke has always brought its own American security team.
Harry versus the Home Office
According to Harry’s team, the Duke and his family are the only ones subject to this ‘less favorable’ arrangement. In addition, the decision to terminate his security would be ‘illegal and unfair’. Harry would have compared his treatment with (anonymized) other members of the Royal House.
However, the British Home Office, which includes RAVEC, defends the choice to re-analyze Harry’s security before each new visit to the United Kingdom. For example, due to his departure, Harry falls outside the group of people whose security is under continuous supervision by RAVEC. In other words: it would be foolish to continuously monitor Harry’s security while he is not a working royal and no longer lives at court.
The Home Office also states that Harry has been explained often enough how the decisions regarding his security were made, but that the prince simply ‘continues to refuse to respond to the explanation given’. Ouch!
The pronounciation
Ultimately, the judge decided today that Prince Harry is indeed not entitled to standard security from RAVEC when he spends time in the UK. According to the court, there was also no unlawful conduct during the recent visits, for which security from the state treasury was rejected.
The judge, Sir Peter Lane, also states that Harry had been warned several times by RAVEC through his Private Secretary in January 2020 that he would have to arrange his own security. The argument that Harry is entitled to a new risk analysis is also razed to the ground by the judge.
Ultimately, the conclusion is that Harry’s entire case is based on an ‘inappropriate’ interpretation of the RAVEC process. Aiii. It is to be hoped that the Duke has not lost all goodwill from the British court with this lawsuit. Otherwise he will have to dig into his pockets again and again to pay for his own security…
Source: The Telegraph | Image: NL Image
