Prince Harry given permission to challenge UK police protection ruling

Dubai:

Prince Harry has been given permission to appeal against the rejection of his legal challenge to the British government’s decision to withdraw his police protection while he is in the UK, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Harry, King Charles’ youngest son, initiated the action after the Home Office – the ministry responsible for policing – ruled in February 2020 that he would not automatically receive personal police security while in Britain.

In February, the High Court in London ruled that the decision was legal and dismissed Harry’s case, and in April it refused him permission to challenge that decision in a higher court.

However, the Court of Appeal has now said it will hear his challenge following a direct application from Harry’s lawyers, who said Harry had been given permission to appeal.

Harry, along with other senior royals, received full publicly funded security protection before stepping back from his royal duties and moving to California with his American wife Meghan in March 2020.

The Executive Committee for the Protection of Royals and Public Figures, known as RAVEC, then decided that Harry would no longer receive the same level of protection.

Judge Peter Lane concluded that RAVEC was entitled to reach this conclusion and ordered it to pay 90% of the Home Office’s “reasonable costs” in defending the case, although the government’s total outlay was not stated.

In granting permission for an appeal, Judge David Bean said he was satisfied, “not without hesitation”, that Harry’s challenge, alleging that RAVEC had not followed its own stated policy, had a real prospect of success.

The case against the government is one of several high-profile legal battles Harry has fought in the High Court, with the others involving legal action against major players in the British press.

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