Duke of Sussex can challenge refusal to offer him protection

THE Duke of Sussex has won the right to challenge a Home Office decision not to grant him automatic police protection whenever he is in the UK.

Mr Justice Swift ruled that this case could proceed to a judicial review at the High Court. The Duke brought the claim on five grounds, four of which the judge said were “arguable”, albeit with some parts removed.

The decision was made by the executive committee for the protection of royalty and public figures (known as Ravec) in February 2020, shortly after the Duke announced he was stepping back as a working member of the Royal family and moving abroad.

Ravec said the Sussexes’ plan to live abroad as private citizens did not “fit readily” into any category of its framework. However, it recognised that the Duke occupied a “particular and unusual position” and that he may need protection in certain circumstances, to be considered on a case by case basis.

The Duke, 37, argued that he inherited a risk at birth and that as such he, his wife, Meghan, and their children, Archie, two, and one-year-old Lilibet, should be afforded permanent protective security while in the UK, regardless of their status as non-working Royals.

In asking for a judicial review, he said he had been denied a “clear and full explanation” of who had been involved in its decision making. He also said Sir Edward Young, the Queen’s private secretary, should not have been involved in the decision due to the “significant tensions” between them.