Taking precautions. Prince Harry fears bringing his kids, Archie and Lilibet, to the United Kingdom anytime soon due to safety concerns.
Harry’s legal team addressed his worries to the High Court in London on his behalf, explaining that he didn’t feel comfortable returning to England after stepping down from his royal duties in January 2020.
“This claim is about the fact that the claimant does not feel safe when he is in the U.K. given the security arrangements that were applied to him in June 2021 and will continue to be applied to him if he decides to come back,” Harry’s attorney Shaheed Fatima shared at the hearing on Friday, February 18. “It should go without saying that he wants to come back: to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart. Most of all, this is, and always will be, his home.”
Harry, 37, and his wife, Meghan Markle, announced they permanently relinquished their roles as working royals on February 19, 2021, noting the “duke and duchess have confirmed to Her Majesty The Queen that they will not be returning.”
After going public with their decision to step down from their senior duties and “work to become financially independent” more than two years ago, Harry and Meghan, 40, were stripped of their public-funded protection in the U.K. and have been paying for their own security in America.
The pair previously resided in Canada and Los Angeles, California, with their son, before relocating to Montecito, California, where they welcomed Lilibet in June 2021 and have been ever since.
Harry applied for a judicial review in January 2022 after a Home Office decision ruled that he would be unable to personally fund police protection for his family while visiting the United Kingdom.
“Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life. He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats,” his legal spokesperson argued in a statement at the time. “While his role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the royal family has not. Nor has the threat to him and his family.”