Home Office fears 'taxpayer reaction' to new security for Prince Harry

Prince Harry could fail in his high profile bid for taxpayer-funded security because the Home Office apparently fears a public backlash if it is granted. 

The Prince has insisted that both he and wife Meghan and their children should all receive official police protection if they visit the UK. 

The protection which is funded by the public purse for all senior royals was taken away from the couple when they decided to step down from their royal duties. 

Harry has previously said that it is unsafe to bring his family to the UK without it being in place. 

As a result, his children Archie, now 6, and Lilibet, now 4, have not seen their grandfather, the King, since February 2022 when they visited the UK as part of the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Last year, Harry lost a legal bid to have his protection reconsidered, blaming the Royal Household in thinly veiled comments about him being the victim of 'a good old fashioned establishment stitch up.'

But despite the High Court loss, his direct appeal to then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper led to his request being assessed again anyway by the body which authorises security for senior royals, The Royal and VIP Executive Committee (commonly known as Ravec). 

He had called on Ms Cooper to review the case 'very, very carefully' and added: 'I would ask the prime minister to step in.' 

As recently as last month, with police and security chiefs apparently agreeing that Harry must be protected, reinstatement of his protection looked assured with it expected to be rubber stamped within weeks. 

But it has been reported today that senior civil servants on Ravec from the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and the Foreign Office are all against granting the protection, fearing the public's adverse reaction to the taxpayer having to foot the bill for the Sussexes' security. 

While a final decision has yet to be made, a Home Office source told today's Telegraph that there had been a split on the board. 

With the cost of any protection likely to run into millions should it be granted and if and when the family visit the UK, the source said: 'There is nervousness among certain members of the committee who fear a public backlash. 

'The political side believe there is too much political risk while the police and security chiefs believe that he absolutely must have it due to the extant threat.'

Since Harry and Meghan's departure from the UK in 2020, when the Metropolitan Police stopped providing security for the couple, they have been responsible for their own security which would include round the clock security at their estate in Montecito, California, and security for visits overseas. 

Harry dramatically claimed in the couple's sensational tell all Oprah interview in 2021 that the Royal Family had cut them off financially when they quit the UK, meaning they would need to fund their own lifestyle in future. 

But it has been the failure of UK authorities to guarantee official protection for the couple and their family when they come to or choose to come to the UK that has rankled with Harry the most. 

Security experts suggested at the time that their annual security bill for protection in and around their home alone which would be similar to that of a Hollywood star could easily top $3 million. Overseas visits could also cost them much more in security. 

On some overseas visits, including one to Colombia in 2024, their security costs have been met by the home country. 

But the UK government will be aware that even on that trip, authorities were criticised for spending an estimated $2 million to cover the pair's security costs while many of the country's residents struggled with poverty.

Harry has argued that his threat level, which was last assessed in April 2019 when a full risk assessment deemed him such a high profile target because of his status and military background that he was put in the highest risk category, is still severe. 

During his High Court action, which the Home Office successfully opposed, his lawyers argued that his 'manifestly inferior' security has put his life 'at stake.'

Currently, Harry's official UK security is decided on a case by case basis with Harry asked to inform the Met thirty days before arriving in the country in order to apply for a security review. 

He has also cited recent threats he endured while in London from a female 'stalker' who managed to get close to him on two occasions within days of each other as evidence of the constant threat he faces. 

She managed to enter a 'secure zone' at a children's charity event at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, last September when he had been granted police protection for one day. 

But when it was when he was without police protection days later at Imperial College, London, that the same woman got within a 'stone's throw' of him and attempted to approach him. 

She was allegedly only prevented from doing so by a member of Harry's private security team. 

A government spokesperson said today: 'The UK government's protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals' security.'