Prince Harry’s police protection row details to remain SECRET as he fights for security for him & Meghan Markle in UK
PARTS of Prince Harry's battle against the Government's decision to take away his police protection in the UK will be kept secret, a court ruled.
The Duke of Sussex is suing the Home Office because it refused to spend taxpayers' money on bodyguards.
Harry, 37, who quit royal duty and privileges that come with the job to live in California with Meghan Markle two years ago, says he feels "unsafe" in the UK.
He wants to fund his own Met Police armed bodyguards but the Home Office refused and insiders are saying police are not "guns for hire".
Harry is also arguing that his private protection team in the US does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to UK intelligence information which is needed to keep his family safe.
Both sides last month argued at the High Court for some parts of the court documents in the case to be kept private.
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Mr Justice Swift today ruled some of the legal battle will remain a secret with some documents redacted.
Both Harry and the Home Office are said to agree on the "vast majority" of what should be redacted from witness evidence.
The judge said editing out information from court documents would "avoid the risk that putting information into the public domain concerning security arrangements made on past occasions, and the general approach to whether and if so what arrangements should be made, may impair the effectiveness of arrangements in place now, or which may be put in place in the future".
He said evidence filed in support of the duke's claim included "irrelevant evidence" which was "inadmissible and should be excluded from the proceedings".
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The judge also slammed Harry's legal team for breaking the embargo on the ruling.
Judgments in the High Court are usually provided to lawyers in a draft form with a strict warning not to break the embargo.
But Mr Justice Swift said a copy was emailed to someone who was not a lawyer in an "entirely unacceptable"; move.
The court was told last month Harry insists the UK will always be his home and he should still receive taxpayer-funded security as he is in "immediate" line to the throne.
Shaheed Fatima QC, for Harry, said: "This claim is about the fact that the claimant does not feel safe when he is in the UK given the security arrangements applied to him in June 2021 and will continue to be applied to him."
She continued: "It goes without saying that he does want 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."
The hearing heard an application by both sides for some parts of the court documents in the case to be kept private.
It is believed to be the first time a member of the Royal Family has sued Her Majesty's government.
It comes after Harry announced he would not be returning to the UK for a Service of Thanksgiving for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey with the Queen.
The Sussexes were stripped of their round-the-clock protection when they stepped back from royal duties two years ago.
PROTECTION ROW
Harry has moaned he is unable to return with Meg, Archie and Lilibet, "because it is too dangerous".
He gets security when he stays at Frogmore Cottage or attends royal events but has to fend for himself if he wants to see friends and visit his UK charities.
A legal representative for the duke said: "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.
"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.
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"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, yet that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the UK. In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home.”
Buckingham Palace has not issued a comment.
