KEY POINTS
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could not return to the U.K. for a very long while
- Christopher Andersen couldn’t imagine a royal funeral or brief court appearance to lure Prince Harry back to the U.K.
- Ian Pelham Turner said the High Court’s decision is “another major blow” to the couple
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might not fly to the former’s home country anytime soon.
On Tuesday, the Duke of Sussex lost his legal bid for his security in the United Kingdom after Mr. Justice Martin Chamberlain ruled to refuse permission for a judicial review of the decision not to allow Prince Harry to pay for his police protection. Following the decision, royal experts weighed in on the possibility of the Sussexes flying to the U.K., and they felt it won’t be happening anytime soon.
“Harry has already made it clear that he doesn’t feel safe in the U.K. and is building his life in California,” Shannon Felton Spence, moderator, public speaker and TV commentator, told Fox News Digital. “Between the court’s decision this morning and their move out of Frogmore Cottage, I don’t think we should expect to see the Sussex family in the U.K. again for a very long while.”
American journalist and royal author Christopher Andersen shared the same sentiment.
“It’s hard to imagine anything short of a royal funeral or another in-and-out court appearance that would lure Harry — much less Meghan — back to the U.K. anytime soon,” the “King” author told the outlet.
Ian Pelham Turner, a broadcast and journalist, considered the “inexplicable” decision prohibiting Prince Harry from financing his police protection “another major blow” to the couple, who stepped back from their royal duties in 2020.
“I understand this would be an unusual method of paying the Metropolitan Police for security protection and could set a precedent. But, right now, these are new times for the royal family and especially King Charles, and new methods of financing any royal projects should be investigated,” he added.
“We live now in 2023, not 1923. The whole of the royal family and their institutions are being scrutinized, and my personal understanding is that the British public would see the royal household paying their way, where they can, would be a massive step forward. Thus, this court decision could be another blow and create further obstacles for the return of the royal couple to Britain.”
Prince Harry asked the court for judicial review after the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures, or Ravec, which covers security for high-profile figures, including the British royal family, declined his request to pay for his police protection.
“Ravec has exceeded its authority, its power because it doesn’t have the power to make this decision in the first place,” Prince Harry’s lawyers told the court.
However, the U.K. Home Office argued that giving in to his request could mean “specialist officers as bodyguards.” The Home Office’s legal team rejected Prince Harry’s offer and opposed the idea that a “wealthy person should be permitted to ‘buy’ protective security.”
