Prince Harry hopes his push to pay for his own personal police protection in the United Kingdom will be reconsidered following the government’s denial.
Appearing in a London court Tuesday, Harry’s lawyer asked for the opportunity to challenge the government’s stance — three years after the prince and wife Meghan Markle stepped down from their royal duties and moved to Southern California.
Harry contends his U.S. team doesn’t have jurisdiction in the U.K., where he says he feels unprotected when he returns with 4-year-old son Archie and 2-year-old daughter Lilibet.
The U.K. stopped paying for Harry’s protection when he left in 2020, and a lawyer for the government claims police being paid for special events is different than enlisting “officers as private bodyguards for the wealthy.”
Harry, 38, was back in London this month for the coronation of his father, King Charles, but Markle and their kids remained in the U.S.
The prince previously asked for the situation to be reviewed in a January 2022 court filing.
“The goal for Prince Harry has been simple — to ensure the safety of himself and his family while in the UK so his children can know his home country,” his representative said at the time.
“The UK will always be Prince Harry’s home and a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in.”
Harry has been open about his strained relationship with his family, including his father and his older brother, Prince William.
Tuesday’s court proceedings came less than a week after the beginning of Harry’s phone-hacking trial against Mirror Group Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mirror. The newspaper group apologized last Wednesday for using a private investigator for a 2004 article about Harry but denied other allegations, including that it hacked phones to obtain voicemail messages.