Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal protection was taken away following their exit from the royal family in 2020. But on Friday, it was revealed this decision went against that of her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
The revelation was published as part of a summary judgment on Friday from the Duke of Sussex's High Court libel case against Associated Newspapers Limited. He is suing the company over an article written in February 2022 regarding the Home Office's decision to change his publicly-funded security arrangements when visiting the UK.
Amongst the documents was a letter by the late Queen’s private secretary, Sir Edward Young, to then-cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill on 31 January 2020. The letter outlined what had been agreed family’s Sandringham summit.
Regarding the Duke and Duchess' security, it stated "You will understand well that ensuring that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain safe is of paramount importance to Her Majesty and her family.
"Given the Duke's public profile by virtue of being born into the royal family, his military service, the Duchess's own independent profile and the well-documented history of targeting of the Sussex family by extremists, it is imperative that the family continues to be provided with effective security."
He added: "And, of course, the family is mindful of tragic incidents of the past," appearing to allude to the death of Princess Diana in 1997.
LOVE THE ROYALS? JOIN THE CLUB!
If you are reading this, the chances are you are obsessed with all things royalty – which is just as well because so are we! So obsessed, in fact, we’ve launched a club solely dedicated to covering them. So welcome to The HELLO! Royal Club. We would love you to join us there…
What is it?
Interactive community offering behind-the-scenes access, exclusive royal interviews, unmissable royal insights, and an illustrious royal Inner Circle.
Member benefits
- Two weekly newsletters, one from Emily Nash
- Video posts and audio notes from Emily Nash and the HELLO! Royal team
- Access to our royal community and opportunity to interact with club writers and members
- Participate in polls, comments and discussion threads
- Access to our Ask Me Anything sessions with our journalists
- Invitations to in-person and virtual events
- A subscription to the digital edition of HELLO! Magazine (Worth £82 annually)*
- Future ‘Inner Circle’ benefits
By royal decree
You are royally invited to join The HELLO! Royal Club – and then to go forth and spread the word to your fellow royal fans. See you in the club!
The letter also explained that the late Queen and the royal family recognised the process for making decisions about publicly-funded security was "independent" and "are for the UK Government, the Government of Canada and any other host Government[...]"
During Friday's proceedings, the judgment explained that the letter did not refer to an offer "personally to reimburse, or proactively to finance, the cost of state security so as not to burden the taxpayer", which the Duke claims he made during the Sandringham summit in a press statement in 2022. Ravec, the Home Office committee that rules on security matters has claimed they received no such offer.
The news of Her late Majesty came days after Harry confessed he believes his children cannot "feel at home" in the UK if it is "not possible to keep them safe" on Tuesday.
Prince Harry's barrister, Shaheed Fatima KC, read out an excerpt from an emotional written witness statement which read: "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 US. 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."
