Prince Harry Claims He's Been Subjected to 'Unlawful and Unfair Treatment' After Being Stripped of His Security Privileges
Prince Harry is once again fighting for state-sponsored protection. Due to his decision to leave the U.K., the Duke of Sussex was stripped of his HRH status and various privileges, including his police escorts, but on Tuesday, December 5, his legal representative presented the issue to London's High Court.
According to Harry's attorney Shaheed Fatima, he was subjected to "unlawful and unfair treatment" by the British government.
"This case is about the right to security and safety of a person," she said. "There cannot be a right of greater importance to any of us."
Fatima asserted that the royal's "consistent position has been — and remains — that he should be given state security in light of the threats/risks he faces."
Despite Harry's accusations, the government's legal practitioner James Eadie made it clear that Harry was handled in a "bespoke" manner, and would "occasionally" receive access to protection when necessary.
"RAVEC does consider (Harry's) position when he comes to GB," Eadie wrote in his submission. "That does not mean he should be considered in the same way as he would be if he were resident in GB at all times."
In 2021, Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, listed Prince Archie's welfare as one of the reasons they moved to California.
"Separate from that, and what was happening behind closed doors was, you know, we knew I was pregnant," Meghan explained to Oprah Winfrey in an interview. "We now know it’s Archie, and it was a boy."
"We didn’t know any of that at the time. We can just talk about it as Archie now," she continued. "And that was when they were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince or a princess — not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol — and that he wasn’t going to receive security."
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- Prince Harry Declares 'There Is No Possibility' to Keep Meghan Markle and Their Kids Safe in the U.K. Without Royal Security
- Prince Harry to 'Appeal' After Losing Lengthy Battle Over Security Arrangements
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Because of Archie's place within the line of succession, the youngster would have a different reality than Prince William's children.
"He wasn’t going to receive security," the mother-of-two stated. "This went on for the last few months of our pregnancy, where I’m going, ‘Hold on a second.'"
"But if you’re saying the title is what’s going to affect their protection, we haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder," the Duchess of Sussex added. "You’ve allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe."
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The Suits star later alluded to her kids being treated differently due to their ethnic heritage.
"But the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be," she told the talk show host.
"In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time . . . so we have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born," the actress revealed.
Harry's court excerpts were published by Reuters.