Prince Harry throws peace sign as he enters court in surprise UK visit
Prince Harry landed in the UK just hours before his father jetted off to Italy for a four-day visit.
King Charles and his youngest son have had a strained relationship since Harry left royal life to live in America with his wife and two children.
It’s not known if the pair met in the short time before King Charles and Queen Camilla left for their Italian state visit, but Prince Harry landed in London to attend an appeal against a High Court decision about his armed bodyguards.
In 2024, a High Court judge dismissed Harry’s claim against the Home Office over security arrangements for himself and his family when they are in the UK.
But Harry’s lawyers said he was ‘singled out’ and treated ‘less favourably’ in the 2020 decision about his armed security guards – prompting the appeal, which will last for two days, beginning today.
Last year, it was revealed his legal fight against the Home Office’s decision had cost the UK government more than £600,000.
Harry has argued that he, his wife Meghan and their children Archie, five, and three-year-old Lilibet, are at risk on trips to his home country, including from ‘racism and extremism’.
One of the examples used by the military veteran’s legal team is a security incident in July 2021, when his car was chased by photographers as he left a charity event at Kew Gardens.
According to data released to Metro.co.uk under the Freedom of Information Act, the Home Office costs amount to £569,559 for an ongoing judicial review bid and £27,257 for a second, which has concluded.
This includes £359,075 for the government’s legal department, £225,941 for counsel and £170.28 in courier fees across the two cases.
Court fees amount to £2,310 and E-disclosure to £11,319 to date in the ongoing case.
The legal battles followed the duke and duchess stepping back from royal duties at the start of 2020 when they relocated to Montecito in California.
The Sussexes have privately funded security but the prince has argued during his challenge that the ‘case by case’ protection offered in the UK is ‘unreasonable’ because it creates ‘excessive uncertainty’ for his protection team. He is obliged to give 28 days’ notice before a visit.
In May last year, the prince was reported by The Daily Telegraph to have turned down an invitation from his father to stay at Buckingham Palace because of security concerns.
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