Prince Harry’s failed legal bid to reinstate his police protection ‘cost the taxpayer more than £500,000’
Prince Harry’s failed lawsuit against the Home Office over the removal of his automatic police protection has cost the taxpayer more than £500,000, it was revealed yesterday.
Officials have spent £514,128 fighting two separate judicial review claims brought by the Duke of Sussex after his security status was downgraded when he and his wife Meghan stopped working as royals and moved to the US.
The legal bill could become even higher as Harry has vowed to appeal his latest defeat when a judge ruled last month that he had failed to prove the decision was unfair or unlawful.
The costs of the two claims will raise questions about a member of the royal family taking legal action against the government.
The bill included more than £180,000 for lawyers, £320,000 for the government’s legal department, which provides legal advice, and £3,200 in legal costs, according to a Freedom of Information request from the Daily Telegraph.
Prince Harry’s failed legal case (outside the High Court last March) against the Home Office over the removal of his automatic police protection has cost the taxpayer more than £500,000.
Officials have spent £514,128 fighting two separate judicial review claims brought by the Duke of Sussex after his security status was downgraded
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf on September 16, 2023
Nearly £10,000 was spent on the disclosure of electronic documents linked to the case, including what are believed to be emails between officials and the Royal Household.
Harry, 39, claimed the decision by the Home Office’s Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known as Ravec, was unfair and endangered the safety of him and his family.
His lawyers argued that he was “singled out” and treated less favorably than other VIPs.
The Home Office said Britain had “finite public resources” and argued that police protection should be limited to those who “act in the interests of the state through their public role.”
A Supreme Court judge ruled that the decision to withdraw his 24-hour, taxpayer-funded police protection and instead assess his security needs on a case-by-case basis was lawful, and dismissed his case.
Prince Harry and Meghan, pictured at an Invictus Games event in Canada on February 14, 2024
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand outside Kensington Palace after announcing their engagement in November 2017
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend an event in Whistler, near Vancouver, ahead of the 2025 Invictus Games
William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at a service at Westminster Abbey in March 2019 – the year before the Sussexes step down as senior royals and move to the US
The ruling left Harry with a legal bill estimated at £1 million. He was previously barred from making a separate claim over his request to pay for his own protection.
He is pursuing separate legal action against News Group Newspapers, which publishes The Sun and the now defunct News of the World, and Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail.
In January he dropped a libel suit against the Mail’s sister paper, The Mail on Sunday, over an article about his safety, leaving him facing a legal bill estimated at £750,000.
Weeks later, he accepted ‘substantial’ damages to end a four-year lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers for phone hacking.