Prince Harry’s renewed push for a review of his UK security set up is “not going to help matters” amid his fledgling reconciliation with the King.
The monarch and his son finally met face-to-face for a long-awaited in-person reunion last month – their first in more than a year – following years of worsening tensions.
Following his bruising appeal loss in the UK courts in May over the decision to downgrade his automatic around-the-clock (and taxpayer-funded security) in favour of a “bespoke” arrangement, Harry has been vocal about his disappointment.
According to the UK’s Sunday Times, Harry has now reached out to the recently-appointed home secretary Shabana Mahmood, asking for his security to be reviewed – which Palace sources claim once again “complicates things for the King.”
“It’s not going to help matters,” a source told the publication’s royal editor Roya Nikkah. “We’re back to where we were.”
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The legal saga, playing out in the King’s courts, has created an awkward situation for his father, with reports he’d even been wary of communicating with his son during proceedings out of concern it could be brought up in court.
In his explosive BBC interview in May off the back of his loss in the UK’s Court of Appeal, Harry himself had acknowledged the tension between them, admitting: “[My father] won’t speak to me because of this security stuff.”
He also told the broadcaster that when it came to his security, “there is a lot of control and ability in my father’s hands”, and claimed that “this whole thing could be resolved” by him.
“Not necessarily by intervening, but by stepping aside, allowing the experts to do what is necessary,” Harry said.
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He also described the ruling as “a good old-fashioned establishment stitch-up”.
The issue of Harry’s security is once again under the microscope following the revelation last week that a stalker came “within feet” of him during his visit to the UK last month for a series of charity engagements.
The duke currently receives a level of security determined on a case-by-case basis while in his home country, an arrangement decided once he left royal duties to move to the US back in 2020.
Working royals automatically receive around-the-clock police protection.
Following the Times’ report of a renewed government lobbying by Harry, the delicate two-month operation to establish a relationship between he and his father could now once again be under threat.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.news.com.au ’
