Prince Harry has revealed more details about internal clashes with senior staff members within the royal household, as his court case against the Home Office gets underway – the prince is suing the Home Office for refusing to arrange his family's security after he and wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down from their working roles in March 2020.
The Sussexes have said a lack of adequate security is the reason why they've not returned to the UK as much as they'd have liked since moving to America, saying that the risk of threat to them (and their children, Lili and Archie) is no lower now that they're no longer working royals.
Now, Harry has said in court (via his legal team) that the Queen's private secretary, Sir Edward Young, has, err, basically stuck his oar in when he "should not have been involved" and didn't communicate key info to the committee who decided what level of security the Sussexes should be allowed to access. This, the prince's team have alleged, has resulted in "significant tensions".
The Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC), which Sir Edward Young has strong ties to, were responsible for ruling that the Sussexes would no longer be able to access the "same degree" of security during trips to Britain, despite them having offered to fund it personally.
Speaking on behalf of the Duke, Shaeed Fatima QC, said in court: "He didn’t know at that stage that the Royal Household was involved at all... he was told it was an independent decision."
The legal representative also put forward that Harry was not given a "clear and full explanation" as to why the decision was made, and that the royal was not offered the chance to fully share his side of the story with RAVEC, adding that his suggestion that he would fund the security himself was not communicated by Edward and other royal staffers.
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She added: "He does not know what else - as communicated by him to the Royal Household - was not fully conveyed to RAVEC. He was deprived of the opportunity to comment on the appropriateness of RAVEC's process (and) the involvement of certain individuals in the RAVEC process prior to the decision being made.
"It is arguable that, if there had been a fair process, RAVEC would or could have reached a different decision."
The Home Office are arguing that the decision was made fairly and that tensions between royal staffers and family members were not relevant. Sir James Eadie QC, representing the Home Office, said in a written argument, "There is no bias challenge and any such tensions are irrelevant to the undisputed fact of the claimant’s change in status which led to the decision of RAVEC.
"The inability of the claimant even now to explain how a process of representations could or would have assisted is striking."
The case continues.
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
