Prince Harry lost a court challenge against the UK government on Wednesday over a decision to change the level of his personal security when he visits the country.
The youngest son of King Charles III launched legal action against the government after being told in February 2020 that he would no longer be given the “same degree” of publicly-funded protection when in Britain.
The High Court ruled the decision was neither unlawful nor irrational.
Prince Harry will seek to appeal the ruling and “hopes he will obtain justice”, a legal spokesperson said.
His lawyers had argued the way the decision was made had been unfair.
He launched the legal challenge after being told he would no longer be given the same degree of publicly-funded protection when in the country.
The Home Office said his security on UK visits should be decided on a case-by-case basis, and on Wednesday said it was “pleased” by the court’s finding.
Arguing against the Duke’s challenge, Home Office lawyers told the High Court Prince Harry would still have publicly-funded police security, but these would be “bespoke arrangements, specifically tailored to him”, rather than the automatic security provided for full-time working royals.
A large portion of the December court case, which dealt with top people’ security arrangements, was conducted in private. Retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rendered his decision on Wednesday morning.
The Duke has claimed that it has been challenging to bring his family to the UK due to the reduced level of security. As a result, the verdict may have an impact on his future visits to the UK.
In rejecting the Duke’s argument, Sir Peter concluded that any deviation from policy was warranted and that the decision to lower Prince Harry’s security classification had not been made illegally.
It concluded that neither the decision nor the procedure were unreasonable.
