THEY WERE HOPING TO BRING ARCHIE AND LILIBET BACK TO BRITAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOUR YEARS… NOW PRINCE HARRY AND MEGHAN MARKLE’S PLANS HANG IN THE BALANCE AFTER A NEW UK SECURITY SETBACK
King Charles is waiting for Prince Harry to confirm whether he will stay at a royal residence -Credit:Samir Hussein, Samir Hussein/WireImagevia Getty Images
King Charles is still awaiting a response from Prince Harry regarding an offer to stay at a royal residence with his family next week, as the Duke of Sussex publicly criticized the government for refusing to provide him with taxpayer-funded security protection.
Royal sources have expressed considerable frustration that Harry has yet to confirm his plans or respond to Buckingham Palace’s offer, which was intended to help address his security concerns. The Duke has vowed to pursue “every available option” so he can bring wife Meghan and their children, Archie and Lilibet, to the UK.
However, sources close to Harry say he has been left “in an impossible situation” following the Home Office’s rejection of his last-ditch appeal to finance a security detail for the visit. The prince has scheduled a five-day trip for next week, during which he has a number of public appearances planned.
Those close to the Duke say he “is not in a good place” and believes “dark forces” are responsible for preventing him from traveling with his family to meet with his father.
Last Friday, it was confirmed that Meghan, 44, will join him on stage on July 10 at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham for a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the city hosting Harry’s Invictus Games competition.
The Sussexes haven’t been to Britain together for four years -Credit:WireImage
Yet within just 24 hours, the Sussexes’ team announced that the family visit was under threat after the Home Office declined to meet Harry’s security demands, reports the Mirror. Harry, 41, has been locked in a lengthy legal battle since he and the Duchess stepped back from their royal duties in March 2020 to relocate to California.
Since departing their royal roles in March 2020, the couple has accumulated tens of millions of pounds, prompting critics to argue that they should bear responsibility for their own security arrangements. The prince had scheduled a five-day visit for next week, but revealed today that he is urgently seeking a way for the Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, to join him.
The duke had been awaiting a review by the Risk Management Board (RMB), part of the process through which the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) determines his security requirements, only to learn on Friday that the review has yet to be conducted. A royal source said, “Buckingham Palace is still waiting for the Duke’s decision. It is incredibly frustrating given arrangements need to be made to facilitate any guest of the King’s accepting an invitation to visit a royal residence.”
Prince Harry hugging Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie
Harry hopes to bring his family to see his father for the first time since they were all in the UK during summer 2022, when they attended the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. There are expectations the King could reconnect with his youngest grandchildren for the first time in four years.
Since the Sussexes were thought to be unlikely to receive taxpayer-funded protection while in the UK, the King instructed aides to extend an invitation to his son to stay at a royal residence, believed to be Buckingham Palace, to address their concerns. Harry was eager to take his family to Windsor Castle to show his children the historic royal residence and their previous home, Frogmore Cottage on the estate. But without security he has maintained they cannot travel around safely.
The children are not anticipated to attend any public events, but Meghan is slated to accompany her husband on visits next week to the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London and the Invictus event.
A spokesman for Harry and Meghan said, “The duke continues to explore every available option to enable the visit to proceed safely and to give his children the opportunity to enjoy the UK.”
Prince Harry and Meghan with their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet -Credit:@meghan/Instagram
Another source close to the Sussexes said, “Harry is devastated and in absolute turmoil over this decision. He is incredibly frustrated at the lack of action from the Home Office and its delay in making a decision. He has blamed dark forces for stopping his family coming to the UK and arranging to see the King. Everything is very much up in the air.”
King Charles is particularly eager to spend time with his grandchildren, yet has made it clear he is unable to intervene in the Royal and VIP Executive Committee’s (RAVEC) decision regarding Harry’s round-the-clock armed security. In lieu of this, Harry has been provided with the contact details of a police liaison officer should he choose to proceed with any travel plans to the UK.
His team is also reportedly frustrated after putting together a risk assessment report for the Home Office, which they claim has been disregarded entirely. The Duke initially filed a case at the High Court, which he lost last year, before escalating the matter to the Court of Appeal, which declined to overturn the ruling.
Rather than facing an outright denial of police protection, Harry was notified that he would be subject to a tailored arrangement requiring him to provide RAVEC with 30 days’ notice of any planned UK visit, along with his full itinerary. Despite this, the Duke continued to pursue the issue, writing to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to request a formal review. In December, he was granted a new risk assessment, with officials stating it would take “a matter of weeks” to complete.
Harry is set to visit his native country next week -Credit:PA
The Mirror revealed last week how Harry was “increasingly frustrated” that he had received no decision on the review six months on from his request. The Duke’s spokesman stated, “Prince Harry’s programme in the United Kingdom includes both public and private engagements across the country. Safe accommodation is only one element of an effective protective security plan because risk follows the person, not the place.
“The issue has never been accommodation. The issue is whether appropriate and proportionate protective security is being provided throughout the entirety of the visit. The independent Risk Management Board that Ravec itself decided was necessary last November has still not taken place.
“It is therefore difficult to understand how the proportionality of the current arrangements can credibly be maintained without that independent assessment.” Harry has been embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute with the Home Office regarding security provisions for himself and his family while in the UK, following changes to his protection level after he stepped down as a working royal in 2020.
Harry has faced a protracted legal battle with the Home Office over the security arrangements for him and his family in the UK -Credit:Getty Images
Since relocating to California, he has directed a series of allegations at King Charles, his stepmother the Queen, his brother the Prince of Wales, and sister-in-law the Princess of Wales, through his Oprah interview, Netflix documentary, various media appearances, and his autobiography Spare.
Following his unsuccessful Court of Appeal challenge against the Home Office last year, the Duke sat down with the BBC, expressing his desire for a family reconciliation while revealing that Charles had refused to communicate with him due to the ongoing security lawsuit.
Harry went on to say, “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point and the things that they’re going to miss is, well, everything you know.”
SOURCE: AOL
