Prince Harry has faced another legal setback!
The Duke of Sussex has (once again) lost his fight for UK police protection for him and his family. On Monday, a judge rejected the 39-year-old’s request to appeal an earlier ruling that upheld the government’s decision to restrict his access to publicly funded security after stepping away from his role as a working royal.
As Perezcious readers know, in February, High Court judge Sir Peter Lane sided with the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC). He denied that Meghan Markle‘s husband had been “singled out” or treated “less favorably” (as his legal team argued) when RAVEC came to their original 2020 decision, in which they decided to grant Harry security on a case-by-case scenario rather than under any circumstance. This is a big issue for the Spare author since he claims he was “forced” to leave his home country amid “danger” for his family. His wife and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, have hardly returned to England since.
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According to ABC News, most plaintiffs in the UK don’t have an automatic right to file an appeal, which is why Harry had to seek permission from the original court. But just ’cause he wasn’t victorious doesn’t mean the battle is over. The High Court said he can still make a request to the Court of Appeals. So, he’s got one more chance!
Furthermore, a judicial spokesperson also told the Mirror that Sir Peter declared Harry should foot most of the bill for the Home Office! In his latest ruling, the judge ordered the father of two to pay 90% of the Home Office’s legal fees — and this is actually a discounted percentage! The legal professional noted that the department had committed “breaches” during the court battle, which were “sanctionable” (but only for an extremely minor cost reduction). Harry had been asking to reduce the costs by at least 50%, so this is another blow for him! The judge opened up about this decision in the ruling:
“There is no merit in this ‘partial success’ submission … The fact that the court did not accept each and every submission of the defendant as to the path to take towards dismissal of the claim does not alter the fact that the claimant comprehensively lost.”
He added:
“They have resulted in the case being largely contested by reference to new grounds, which have not been subjected to the normal permission process. The breaches resulted from misapprehensions on the part of the defendant as to the duty of disclosure, which this decision has had to address at some length. It is therefore right that there should be a modest but still significant reduction in the award of costs to the defendant.”
This is a rough loss for Harry — and his wallet is gonna be feeling it! We’ll be curious to see if he continues to fight this battle or not, as well as how this decision might affect any future travel plans for his fam! Thoughts? Share ’em (below)!
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