Prince Harry will see one of his legal battles back in court next week amid a tumultuous time for the Duke of Sussex, who has seen an investigation launched into a charity he founded
Prince Harry will see one of his legal battles back in court in just days amid a tumultuous time for the duke. Next week, an appeal against a High Court ruling related to the level of security he is given when he is in the UK is set to come back before the courts.
It will come just days after news that a regulator has opened a case into a charity he founded following a bitter boardroom battle that has seen Harry quit as patron. Harry has been taking legal action against the Home Office over the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
The High Court was told that the decision was made as a result of a change in the duke’s ‘status’ after he stopped being a “full-time working member of the royal family”. In a judgment in February last year, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke’s case and concluded Ravec’s approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. Harry’s appeal against the ruling is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday (April 8 and 9) in London.
In an order, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean, and Lord Justice Edis said that the parties’ opening submissions and arguments related to “non-confidential facts” will be held in open court, which can be attended by the press and the public. But parts of the hearing that concern “confidential facts” will be held in private, meaning the press and public cannot attend.
Giving reasons for the decision, they said: “Some of the evidence in this case, which is being placed before the Court of Appeal, has been agreed between the parties to be highly confidential. That evidence relates to security arrangements and threat levels, and assessments for the claimant and other public figures.
“It is obvious that such material would be of interest to anyone wishing to harm a person within the scope of the security arrangements, and that publicising it would risk jeopardising the effectiveness of those arrangements.
“Whilst some of the material that needs to be protected in the interests of justice is entangled with less sensitive details, it should be possible to conduct most of the appeal in public, with only short periods in private to deal with the confidential evidence. In this way, the open justice principle can be adhered to as faithfully as possible in the particular circumstances of this case.”
During a previous hearing at the High Court, it was told that Harry believes his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot “feel at home” in the UK if it is “not possible to keep them safe” there unless his police protection is fully restored. The court hearing will come hot on the heels of the fallout over his Sentebale charity, which is now the subject of a case by the Charity Commission.
Harry described the past week’s events, which have included the chairwoman of the Sentebale charity levelling accusations of bullying and harassment in a bid to remove her, as “heartbreaking to witness”.
The charities watchdog announced yesterday it had escalated its investigations into “concerns raised” about the charity. The Charity Commission said it had opened a regulatory compliance case into Sentebale, a week after it emerged Harry – who founded the charity alongside Prince Seeiso of Lesotho – had quit as patron.
Several trustees have left the charity in a dispute with its chairwoman, Sophie Chandauka, having requested her resignation. Harry and fellow founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho backed the departing trustees and announced they had resigned as patrons until further notice last week.
