King Charles III’s younger son Prince Harry’s legal battle over his UK security has sparked reactions from Britons as it may cost them more than one million dollar.
The Duke of Sussex is back to the court for a three-day judicial review of the UK’s Home Office’s decision to scale back his protection in the country.
The royal family’s former head of protection Dai Davies has warned the long-running court case “is going to cost you and I about £1m by the time it’s finished”.
“The truth is, he actually gets protection… every time, anything to do with royals – and he’s here as a prince of the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland, never forget Northern Ireland – yes, of course he gets it. And he has,” he claimed while speaking with GB News.
Dai Davies went on saying: “What he wants is armed protection when he comes here and has done over a number of years.
“He brings his own protection teams who are not armed, but a number of them are former royalty protection officers. If there’s a threat, if there’s any kind of issue, he will be afforded the protection he wants. This is a storm in the cup and it’s going to cost you and I about £1m.”
The cost of the royal family’s security is secret on grounds of national security – but estimates of the cost to the taxpayer range from several million pounds to as much as £100m, according to the Institute for Government think tank.
Shaheed Fatima KC, the Duke’s lawyer told the High Court: “The claimant’s consistent position has been, and remains, that he should be given state security in light of the threats/risks he faces.”
The Duke’s battle over security returned to the court days after the race row over his and Meghan’s baby Archie was reignited by Harry and Meghan’s author Omid Scobie’s new book ‘Endgame’.
Meghan Markle’s husband is challenging a February 2020 order by the Royal And VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) that scaled back the Duke’s security detail after he stepped back from the royal duty and moved to the US in 2020.
