Prince Harry has cost taxpayers up to £100k with legal fight to get back his bodyguards
PRINCE Harry has cost taxpayers up to £100,000 with his legal fight to get back his bodyguards.
His case landed the Home Office with a bill for £90,094.79 between September and May.
It includes £55,254 on the Government Legal Department, £34,824 on counsel and £16.55 on couriers.
There have been two High Court hearings since May so the bill can be expected to top £100,000. It will mount further when a review gets under way at a date yet to be set.
The duke, 37, says he does not feel safe in the UK after the Home Office took away armed guards when he quit royal duty.
He filed a complaint to the High Court ten months ago and was granted a judicial review last week.
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Harry says he has offered to pay for any Met Police bodyguards while he is in the UK.
Earlier this year, his spokesman also insisted he did not want to impose on taxpayers.
But the mounting cost to the taxpayer has emerged from an information request to the Royal and VIP Executive Committee.
In its legal argument, the Home Office says it will claw back legal costs from Harry if his bid to overturn the decision to deny him Met bodyguards fails.
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It said: “This is a very exceptional case in which a very significant burden has been imposed by the claimant on the public purse through pursuit of an unarguable claim.
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“The public purse should not have to bear the cost of the conduct of the litigation and a claim which ought not to have been brought.”
It comes after California police records revealed officers were called twice to Harry and wife Meghan’s £11million Montecito mansion in May to deal with reports of intruders.