Prince Harry's lawyers emphasized that his "life" could be at risk depending on the outcome of his latest court battle. On Wednesday, April 9, the Duke of Sussex attended the final day of hearings in the appeal over a U.K. court's decision to remove his taxpayer-funded security.
The duke traveled to London to appear in court, although it's been reported by multiple outlets he did not meet with King Charles before the monarch left for a four-day tour of Italy. In 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's police protection in the UK. was stripped after they stepped down as senior working royals. The Duke of Sussex is challenging the ruling in his case in an appeal that has been years in the making.
Earlier this week, his barrister Shaheed Fatima KC said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex "felt forced to step back from the role of full-time official working members of the Royal Family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution."
On Wednesday, she stated, via the Mirror, "There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security, and whose life is at stake. There is a person sitting behind me who is being told he is getting a special bespoke process when he knows and has experienced a process that is manifestly inferior in every respect."
The Duke of Sussex was reported to have been given a special "bespoke" process for his security review, a proceeding which Fatima claims has been "inferior" and "unjustified."
Prince Harry has remarked on several occasions—including in a documentary about tabloid journalism—that he felt unsafe bringing wife Meghan Markle and their children Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie to the U.K.
"It's still dangerous, and all it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read," Harry said in 2024's Tabloids on Trial. "And whether it's a knife or acid, whatever it is, and these are things that are of genuine concern for me, it's one of the reasons why I won’t bring my wife back to this country."
His lawyer pointed out that the mere fact Prince Harry attended the two-day hearing in person was a testament to how important the matter was to the duke. "We do say that his presence here, and throughout this appeal, is a potent illustration, were one needed, of how much this appeal means to him and his family," she told the court.
According to the Mirror, judge Sir Geoffrey Vos said a decision on the appeal was "unlikely" to arrive before Easter.
