LONDON (AP) — A London judge ruled Tuesday against Prince Harry over his efforts to pay for police protection while visiting Britain.
A High Court judge has rejected the Duke of Sussex’s claim that the British government overstepped its authority when it denied him the right to hire police to provide security in the UK.
The British government suspended security after Harry and his wife, Meghan, left their royal duties and moved to California in 2020. A lawyer for the government argued in court that it should allow the hiring of “police officers as private bodyguards for the rich.”
Harry said he did not feel safe visiting the UK with his young children and cited aggressive press photographers.
The case came to light last week on the same day Harry and Meghan requested cover from paparazzi at a New York police station after a spokesperson said they were involved in a “near-disastrous car chase” with photographers after a gala event.
No one was hurt and no citations were issued, but police say the photographers made it difficult for the couple to get to where they were going.
Harry is separately challenging the decision to deny him government-paid security. That suit is the only one of five active lawsuits he has in London courts that is not against British tabloid publishers for defamation or phone hacking.
He is due to give evidence next month in an ongoing trial against the publisher of the Daily Mirror over allegations he used illegal means to gather material for dozens of articles about the Duke dating back to the 1990s.