Harry wrote to Shabana Mahmood shortly after her appointment to the role
The Duke of Sussex has written to the Home Secretary asking for a re-evaluation of his security arrangements when in the UK. Harry wrote to Shabana Mahmood shortly after her appointment to the role and submitted a formal request for a risk assessment to the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), overseen by the Home Office, a source close to the duke said.
During Harry’s last visit to the UK in September, a “known stalker” came “within feet” of him on two occasions, according to reports in The Telegraph. The woman entered a “secure zone” at a central London hotel where the duke was attending the WellChild Awards on September 9 and was spotted two days later near Harry at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in west London, the paper said.
It comes after the duke lost an appeal in May challenging the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office over the decision of Ravec that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
A source close to Harry said the duke’s letter to Ms Mahmood was sent prior to the two incidents during his September visit. After losing the Court of Appeal challenge, the duke said in a TV interview he “can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK”.
The 41-year-old told the BBC he would ask then-home secretary Yvette Cooper to “look at this very, very carefully”, and warned that the royal family’s power over security means it “can be used to control” family members. He also said he would ask Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to “step in”.
The legal challenge came after Harry and the Duchess of Sussex left the UK and first moved to Canada, and then California, after announcing they wanted to step back as senior royals. In a summary of the ruling, judge Sir Geoffrey Vos said Ravec’s decision was “understandable and perhaps predictable”.
The duke said the Court of Appeal decision meant it is now “impossible” for him to bring Meghan and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet back to the UK safely. A Government spokesperson said: “The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”
