2024-04-16 10:27:12
A court has ordered Prince Harry to pay back money to the Treasury after losing his battle with the Home Office over his reduced level of police protection. After deducting his legal costs, he will have to pay around £1m.
Judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the prince’s bid to halve the sum, saying he had “definitely lost the case”. He ruled that the prince had no right of appeal, writing at one point that he had “no chance”.
However, Harry has the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal if he chooses. The two decisions are yet another blow to Harry, who lost his two-year battle with the Home Office in February.
Harry sued the Home Office after he no longer “received the same level” of protection after he and Meghan Markle gave up their royal titles in January 2020.
He tried to compare the dangers to himself and his family to those faced by his mother Princess Diana before her death in 1997 after a paparazzi chase.
The Home Office spent 500,000 pounds of public funds on the case. The prince’s lawyers immediately released a written request that he should pay only half of these funds.
But the judge is adamant that the prince must cover 90% of the public costs.
According to information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the government spent £514,128, of which £180,000 on lawyers, £320,000 on their assistants and £2,300 on legal costs.
The expenses of the prince himself are more or less the same, and so the amount comes to 1 million.
However, the prince received a 10% cut in his personal expenses after the government was penalized for delayed documents by Ravec.
Ravec is the executive committee for the protection of royalty and public figures, which is under the Ministry of the Interior.