“All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion,” said a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace in a firm response to Prince Harry’s latest public remarks.
The palace issued the statement on May 2, shortly after the Duke of Sussex, 40, gave an interview to BBC News following the dismissal of his appeal to reinstate the publicly funded security he lost when he and Meghan Markle stepped back from their royal roles in 2020.
The same day, Judge Sir Geoffrey Vos upheld the earlier ruling, explaining that two fellow judges had agreed with his findings.
“The Duke was, in effect, stepping in and out of the cohort of protection provided by RAVEC [the government’s Royal and VIP Executive Committee]. Outside the U.K., he was outside the cohort, but when in the U.K., his security would be considered as appropriate depending on the circumstances. It was impossible, I said in my judgment, to say that this reasoning was illogical or inappropriate. Indeed, it seemed sensible,” said Vos.
He added, “Even if there had been a risk analysis from the Risk Management Board, it would very likely have only confirmed the threat, vulnerability and impact levels which the Duke of Sussex had faced when earlier risk analyses were undertaken. But it would have had nothing to say on the critical features of the changed situation, namely the need for protective security on future uncertain visits and the government’s appetite for risk.”
Vos described RAVEC’s decision regarding Harry’s security as “understandable and perhaps predictable.”
Prince Harry had recently returned to London from California to attend a two-day hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice on April 8 and 9, continuing his years-long legal fight to restore the automatic security protections he lost after stepping back from royal duties five years ago.
He previously lost his case against RAVEC’s decision in February 2024, and the appeal was officially rejected on May 2.
The Duke has long maintained that King Charles, as ceremonial head of state, could intervene in the matter — a claim the palace pushed back on once again in Friday’s response.
In his BBC interview, Harry spoke candidly about the toll the issue has taken on him and his family, alleging that his father “won’t speak to me because of this security stuff,” and reflecting on the fallout from his 2023 memoir, Spare: “Some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book.”
