Prince Harry ‘Does Not Feel Safe’ Bringing Family To U.K. With No Police Protection

Through lawyers this Friday, Prince Harry has said that he will not bring his family to the U.K. anytime soon given the “security arrangements applied to him,” after he and Meghan Markle stepped away from the Royal Family in March 2020.

The U.K. Government subsidizes police protection for high-ranking royals, but after Harry and Meghan’s titles were revoked, they haven’t even been allowed to pay for police protection out of their own pockets. Prince Harry has issued a legal challenge to this ruling, and his legal team began the hearing on Friday.

Harry and Meghan, who now live in Santa Barbara, California, were not present for the preliminary hearing in High Court in London, but Harry’s attorney Shaheed Fatima relayed his concerns. She said Harry “does want to come back to see family and friends,” but fears for the safety of his son Archie, 3, and daughter Lilibet, if they traveled to the U.K. with his American security team, which isn’t adequately equipped to protect them overseas.

Robert Palmer a lawyer representing the British Government called Harry’s claim “unmeritous,” because “personal protective security by the police is not available on a privately financial basis,” in a written submission to the court.

When Harry and Meghan first stepped from their royal duties, it was shocking to people observing from the outside. But in the months after the event, the two revealed their departure was due to tensions within the Royal Family, and breaches of privacy along with racist coverage Meghan endured by British tabloids.