Prince Harry criticised Buckingham Palace officials in an interview yesterday after the Court of Appeal rejected a bid to restore his police protection
According to friends close to King Charles, Prince Harry’s court battle over his publicly funded security has left the monarch “upset” and “frustrated.” The Duke of Sussex took aim at Buckingham Palace officials in a bombshell interview yesterday after the Court of Appeal rejected a bid to restore his police protection detail.
In the interview, Prince Harry said he wanted to reconcile with his family after the court battle on Friday led to King Charles to stop talking to him. “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” Harry told the BBC. “I don’t know how much longer my father has.”
Before the judgement in the court case, an insider close to the King said he was “frustrated” and “upset” with Harry after he had wanted him to intervene in the court case.
Charles’ friend told The Sun before the BBC interview it would have been “constitutionally improper” for him to do so.
They added: “What has frustrated and upset him on a more personal level is the Duke’s failure to respect this principle.
“And for his supporters to suggest that somehow his father doesn’t care about his family, or should step in.
“He’s been particularly concerned that it has taken considerable resources and cost for the Government to defend their position.”
In response to the court ruling, Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying that issue had been meticulously examined by the courts “with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”
The Duke of Sussex said that he was devastated to lose the case that was a source of friction with his 76-year-old father, who is being treated for an undisclosed cancer. Harry has met with him once briefly since his diagnosis early last year.
“He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff,” Harry said in the interview that aired three hours after the ruling.
Harry said Friday’s court verdict meant it would be impossible to safely bring his family back to the UK.
He said repeatedly that the decision to withdraw his security had been made at the direction of palace officials in an effort to control him and his wife, even though it put their safety at risk.
“What I’m struggling to forgive, and what I will probably always struggle to forgive, is the decision that was made in 2020 that affects my every single day, and that is knowingly putting me and my family in harm’s way,” Harry said.
A government committee decided in 2020 that Harry’s security arrangements should be decided on a case-by-case basis whenever he visits the UK.
