Prince Henry claims protection in the United Kingdom

2023-12-06 01:00:52

Prince Henry’s legal battle against the British Home Office opened a new chapter yesterday in the High Court of England and Wales. The disputed case concerns the right of Charles III’s youngest son and his family to receive protection in the UK, a right he lost in February 2020 after stepping down from his duties as a member of the royal family. The prince’s lawyers consider that he has received unequal and unjustified treatment and demand that this protection be returned to him, arguing that he continues to be exposed to threats.

The basis of the accusation lies in the alleged lack of foundation in the arguments of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), a body dependent on the Government, which considered three years ago that the position of Henry and his family had changed by not being active members of the royal family and by residing abroad. Ravec’s conclusions determined that his security during his visits to the United Kingdom would be examined on a case-by-case basis and ruled out allocating police force to his protection.

Enric’s lawyers, however, insist on the importance of reinstating his escort to avoid possible reputational damage to the Government and British institutions in the event of any unwanted incident. “Ravec should have considered, in particular, the impact on the reputation of the United Kingdom of a possible successful attack against the plaintiff,” the prince’s lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, said in her statement of indictment. The lawyer considers that “no convincing reason” has been given to withdraw Enric’s protection and states that the relevant risk analyzes have not been carried out.

The lawyers also point out that the prince’s request to present his arguments personally to the Ravec was unfairly denied and complain that he was not properly informed about the members who made up the committee, which included the private secretary of Queen Elizabeth II, Edward Young, with whom Henry had “significant tensions”. “He [Enric] I didn’t know at the time that the Royal House was involved at all,” says Fatima, who considers this fact to be a “procedural injustice.”

Fight the tabloids

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Henry already suffered a setback from British justice in May this year, when the same court rejected his request to pay for his own police protection. On this occasion, the judge ruled in favor of Ravec and the Metropolitan Police, who argued that it was not admissible to put the officers’ safety at risk in exchange for the “payment of fees by a private individual”.

The prince has reported having suffered episodes of persecution by the press during his visits to the United Kingdom. This fact, he says, has put his safety and that of his family at risk. The request for protection is part of the prince’s fight against the country’s main tabloids.