It has still not been confirmed if Prince Harry will be returning to the UK in the next few weeks for a 10th-anniversary celebration of the Invictus Games – and the mystery comes after he suffered a blow when it comes to his security in the UK
In just a few weeks one of Prince Harry’s most beloved projects will be celebrating a milestone anniversary.
That’s because his Invictus Games, for injured and sick servicemen and women, has reached its 10th year and a service at St Paul’s Cathedral in London is set to mark the special anniversary. However, there has still not been any word from Harry’s office on whether he definitely will or will not be attending.
The service looks set to take place at the cathedral on May 8, in less than two weeks, but it will come just weeks after Harry suffered a huge blow when it comes to his security arrangements in the United Kingdom.
Recently, the duke has been locked in a legal battle 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. Ravec’s decision came as a result of a change in Harry’s ‘status’ after he stopped being a “full-time working member of the Royal Family”, a judge was told.
Harry’s lawyers had previously told the court that he was “singled out” and treated “less favourably” in the decision to change the level of his taxpayer-funded personal security. They said a failure to carry out a risk analysis and fully consider the impact of a “successful attack” on him meant the approach to his protection was “unlawful and unfair”.
The court 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. At a previous hearing of the case, in a written statement, Harry said: “It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020. The UK is my home.
“The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home, as much as where they live at the moment in the United States. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
But earlier this year, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke’s case and concluded Ravec’s approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. And in another blow this month, a judicial spokesperson said that Harry has lost his initial bid to appeal against the decision.
In the initial decision to refuse the duke the go-ahead to appeal, Sir Peter said Harry’s appeal bid was “largely a recapitulation of the case advanced by the claimant at trial”. He continued: “The reality of the matter is that the claimant considers he should receive a different approach to his protection whilst in the UK than Ravec decided he should, based in part on his comparison of his own position with that of others. Ravec, as an expert body, concluded otherwise. It was entitled to do so.”
However, the duke is still able to ask the Court of Appeal directly for the green light to bring an appeal. Meanwhile, it has been reported that if Harry does come, he will most likely be travelling to the UK alone. According to The Telegraph, there is one issue that makes Harry feel like he can’t bring his family to the UK – and they will only be able to come if something changes.
The publication says it understands that unless Harry can overturn a ruling by the Home Office that he is not immediately entitled to police protection when in the UK – he does not feel he can bring Meghan, Archie and Lilibet to his homeland.
