Prince Harry loses Court of Appeal challenge over security arrangements in the UK
2 May 2025, 14:17 | Updated: 2 May 2025, 15:06
Prince Harry has lost a challenge at the Court of Appeal over his security arrangements while in the UK.
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His taxpayer-funded protection was changed when he stopped being a working Royal in 2020.
The Duke of Sussex said he did not feel safe coming here otherwise.
'Powerful and moving'
Reading a summary of the judgment dismissing the duke's appeal, Sir Geoffrey said that arguments put forward by his barrister, Shaheed Fatima KC, were "powerful and moving" and that it was "plain that the Duke of Sussex felt badly treated by the system".
But he said: "I concluded, having studied the detail of the extensive documentation, I could not say that the duke's sense of grievance translated into a legal argument for the challenge to Ravec's decision."
He continued: "The duke was in effect stepping in and out of the cohort of protection provided by Ravec.
"Outside the UK, he was outside the cohort, but when in the UK, his security would be considered as appropriate."
He added: "It was impossible to say that this reasoning was illogical or inappropriate, indeed it seemed sensible."
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Sir Geoffrey also said Ravec's decision was "understandable and perhaps predictable".
Reading a summary of the Court of Appeal's judgment, Sir Geoffrey Vos, sitting with Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edis, said: "From the Duke of Sussex's point of view, I said that something may indeed have gone wrong, in that an unintended consequence of his decision to step back from royal duties and spend the majority of his time abroad has been that he has been provided with a more bespoke, and generally lesser, level of protection than when he was in the UK.
"That did not in itself give rise to a legal complaint."
