Prince Harry loses appeal over U.K. security arrangements

Prince Harry has lost his legal challenge over the level of security he receives when visiting the U.K.

The Duke of Sussex had filed a legal claim against the Home Office over the decision to downgrade the level of taxpayer-funded protection he and his family receive in the U.K. after they stepped back as working royals and moved to California in 2020.

After losing his initial case in February last year, the royal launched a legal challenge, for which he attended the Court of Appeal in London last month.

However, on Friday, Judge Sir Geoffrey Vos delivered a legal blow to Harry and dismissed his appeal.

Delivering his verdict, Vos said that the 40-year-old's arguments were "powerful and moving" but he could not say that Harry's "sense of grievance translated into a legal argument for the challenge to Ravec decision", referring to the government's Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC). He added that two other judges agreed with his opinion.

"The Duke was, in effect, stepping in and out of the cohort of protection provided by Ravec," he said, reports The Guardian. "Outside the UK, he was outside the cohort, but when in the UK, his security would be considered as appropriate. It was impossible to say that this reasoning was illogical or inappropriate, indeed, it seemed sensible."

In the original complaint, Harry's legal team had argued that RAVEC's decision to assess his security needs on a case-by-case basis was "inadequate, inappropriate and ineffective".

His lawyers previously said that the royal "does not feel safe" bringing his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and their children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, to his home country without official police protection.

Harry still has the option of taking his case to the Supreme Court if he wishes to pursue it further.