Prince Harry is not giving up on reconciliation with King Charles or the Royal Family, despite the courts ruling against his appeal for automatic increased security for him and his family in the U.K. Harry opened up about where he stands with King Charles in a new interview with the BBC, saying that while he still hopes to reconcile with his family, he knows it would be difficult to do so without adequate police protection. And that's just the start. Read on to find out the 8 main takeaways from Prince Harry's BBC interview.
Prince Harry wants to reconcile with his father, but says he can't imagine bringing Meghan Markle, Archie, and Lilibet to the U.K. under current security conditions.
In the 30-minute interview, Harry confirmed earlier reports that King Charles wasn't speaking to him because of the court battle and reiterated his belief that the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures committee, known as Ravec, downgraded his security in 2020 under the influence of members of the Royal Household. And while he said he still has disagreements with his father, “I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious,” he said. That said, without adequate security it's hard to see how they could even begin to patch things up.
“I can't see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point,” Harry told the BBC, citing the lack of automatic security usually granted to royals—both working and not. “I miss the U.K... I think it's really quite sad that I won't be able to show my children my homeland,” he added.
He never asked King Charles to intervene on his behalf, and questions the Royal Household's role in Ravec.
Harry told the BBC that he believed his father could change Ravec's assessment of his security by simply instructing the Royal Household representatives on the Ravec committee to step down. “I've never asked him to intervene,” Harry said. ”I've asked him to step out of the way and let the experts do their job.”
He explained that through the appeals process he has learned that the Ravec chair met with members of the Royal Household right before downgrading his security. “The first people that he went to go and see, was the Royal Household at the Palace,” he said, implying that the officials in the Royal Household had intervened with what is meant to be an official process.
Harry's official security risk assessment was downgraded overnight without due process.
Before Ravec determines which tier of security is given to any individual, they are meant to go through the Risk Management Board, which assesses threats annually. Harry, however, says he has not had an official risk assessment since 2019.
“In the beginning of 2020, I was scored the highest as far as risk was concerned,” he said. “And then overnight I was reduced to the lowest without actually going through the risk management board. So one does question how that was even possible and also the motive behind that at the time.”
Harry went on to suggest that the decision to downgrade his security was not based on the risk to his life and those of his family, but rather “security was used as leverage” in an attempt to get him and Meghan to stay on as working royals.
Harry claims some people involved “want history to repeat itself.”
When asked about how much of his fight was fueled by Princess Diana's death and an effort to not let history repeat itself, Harry acknowledged the concern and claimed that some on the opposing side might have even been hoping for another tragedy to befall him and his family. “Through the disclosure process, I have discovered that some people want history to repeat itself, which is pretty dark,” he said. He refused to name names, but added, “I know all the names of the people who were involved in this process.”
And he doesn't get adequate police protection unless invited by the Royal Family.
Prince Harry does still receive an amount of protection when in the U.K., but he claims the amount of protection he receives is, essentially, up to the Royal Household. If he chooses to enter the U.K. without an official invite, the security is “completely insufficient.” He continued,“I can only come to the U.K. safely if I'm invited.”
Harry responds to critics who question his need for security now that he's no longer a working royal.
Asked why tax payers should have to fund his security even though he is no longer a working royal, Harry said that the cost of security had been grossly exaggerated by the British press. Furthermore, he insisted, the risk to his safety had not changed. “I was born into these risks,” he explained, noting that while he might be able to step back from his role as a working royal, he is still a member of the royal family.
“To know that those threats and risks exist, but to turn around and say, ‘Well, because you don't have an official role, your life doesn't actually matter anymore,’” he said later in the interview, was “the most illogical argument in the history of arguments.”
He worries Ravec will be used to trap royals.
Harry also noted that Ravec isn't just in charge of the protection of the royal family, but also the protection of politicians and public servants. “People who leave public office receive lifetime protection, regardless of whether or not there are threats or risks to them,” he said, noting that for him “security was made conditional.”
And if exceptions can be made at the whim of the Royal household, Harry said he worries that the threat of removing security will be used to “imprison other members of the family from being able to choose a different life.”
He called on the Prime Minister to investigate Ravec.
Citing national security, Harry called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to investigate Ravec and potentially make changes to how the committee operates. While he didn't call for any specific action, Harry suggested that they look into why the Royal Household even has representatives on the committee to begin with.
