Prince Harry has claimed that his police protection was taken away in an attempt to prevent him and his wife Meghan Markle from leaving the UK to start a new life.
In an interview with the Telegraph, the Duke of Sussex said that his “worst fears” had been confirmed by secret evidence he heard in court.
Harry is challenging the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office over the decision that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
The two-day appeal comes after retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane ruled last year that the decision made by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), taken in early 2020 after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit as senior working royals, was lawful.
The Duke and Duchess left the UK in 2020 and moved to Montecito, in California.
Speaking to the newspaper after leaving court, Harry said that he had been trying to “create a happy house” with the Duchess of Sussex and hoped that their happiness would improve relations with the rest of the family.
He insisted the legal battle over protection was even more important than his feud with the tabloid press, which he has called his “life’s work”.
“People would be shocked by what’s being held back,” the Duke said of the evidence heard behind closed doors this week.
The King, Queen and Prince and Princess of Wales all receive full-time security funded by the taxpayer.
But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex must give 30 days’ notice of plans to visit the UK, which is then assessed before a decision is made on whether protection is given.
The Home Office is defending the appeal, previously telling the court the challenge “involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees, advancing propositions available only by reading small parts of the evidence, and now the judgment, out of context and ignoring the totality of the picture”.
On Thursday, Harry met war victims in Ukraine in an unannounced visit as part of his ongoing work supporting injured veterans.
The Duke visited the Superhumans Centre in Lviv, orthopaedic clinic and rehabilitation centre for adults and children affected by the war in Ukraine, on Thursday. He also met with Ukraine’s minister of veterans affairs Natalia Kalmykova.
