Prince Harry is Appealing the U.K. Government’s Decision to Not Let Him Pay for Police Protection

The British government won’t allow Prince Harry to pay for police protection for him and his family when he visits the U.K.

NBC News reports that he wanted to pay for it himself instead of placing the expense on British taxpayers. Harry has subsequently challenged the decision, which was made by the U.K. Home Office. He also asked for a judicial review on the security procedures back in September.

Harry wants to return with his children, Archie and Lilibet, who have been living with him and Meghan Markle in California after breaking off from the royal family in 2020. Lilibet hasn’t yet met her great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and others from the royal family. However, a trip without police protection is dangerous for Harry and his family, according to a statement that NBC received from his legal representative.

The statement said that a recent trip to the U.K. to celebrate a new statue of his mother, Prince Diana, proved to be too risky and was “compromised due to absence of police protection.” Now, moving forward, Harry feels like without such protection, his family is “unable to return to his home.”

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, yet that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the U.K.,” the statement said, adding that Harry and his family have been exposed to various threats over the last few years.

“The U.K. will always be Prince Harry’s home and a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in,” the statement said. “With the lack of police protection, comes too great a personal risk.” When Harry and Meghan split from the family and move to the U.S., their publicly funded police protection was taken from them.