Harry loses bid to challenge decision not to allow him to pay for UK police protection

LONDON: Prince Harry on Tuesday lost a bid to legally challenge the British government's decision not to allow him to pay for police protection while he is in the United Kingdom.

Harry, King Charles' younger son, was stripped of the police security usually afforded to royal figures after he and his American wife Meghan stepped down from their official roles in 2020 to move to the United States.

The High Court in London, which last year already agreed he should be allowed to challenge an original decision to end the protection, ruled he could not also seek a judicial review over whether to let him pay for the specialist police officers himself.

The decision to strip him of publicly-funded protection was taken by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, known by the acronym RAVEC, which approves security for the royals and VIPs, such as the prime minister.

Judge Martin Chamberlain said in his written ruling RAVEC was not arguably wrong to decide that allowing payment for protective security was against the public interest.

His ruling comes less than a week after Harry's spokesperson said the prince, his wife Meghan and her mother were involved in a "near catastrophic" car chase with press photographers after an awards ceremony in New York.