Prince Harry has been urged to "stop" creating drama and acting like a working royal when "he is not one", following his recent trip to the UK. The Duke of Sussex visited Britain last month, but his arrival was overshadowed by ongoing concerns over his security.
Harry has been in a legal battle with the Home Office over security arrangements for him and his family in the UK, after his protection level changed when he stepped down as a working royal in 2020. Last year, he lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the Home Office and gave a BBC interview expressing hopes for reconciliation with his family, revealing that King Charles would not speak to him due to the court case.
Security Review Pending
Harry was awaiting a review by the Risk Management Board (RMB), part of the process by which the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) rules on his security needs. However, he learned last month, ahead of his UK visit, that the review had not yet taken place. As of now, no decision on his security has been made.
His security arrangements heavily influenced his travel plans for July's visit, as he had hoped to bring his whole family. His wife, Meghan Markle, was expected to join him at some Invictus Games events but made no public appearances. The Sussex family did visit the UK and met with the King and Queen at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.
Expert Criticism
The duke has been criticized for inconsistent statements from his camp and for changing his original travel plans. Royal expert Emily Andrews told Woman & Home magazine: "The drama with Prince Harry shows no sign of abating or calming down. His hoped-for family reunion unravelled into an unseemly row over who said what, when, where could people stay and why exactly he feels unsafe in the UK."
Andrews claimed Harry's "paranoia" about security is rooted in the "lasting trauma" of his mother, Princess Diana's death in a car crash in Paris in 1997. She said: "He genuinely believes his wife and children aren't safe in the UK without guards armed with guns. Even the offer of accommodation at Buckingham Palace and 'safe passage' in and out wasn't good enough. I'm no security expert (and surely writing about his 'kill count' of 25 Taliban in his autobiography did not discourage any potential threats or terrorist plots against him), but this seems like an overreaction."
Andrews accused the duke of turning his UK trip into a "circus" with his "dithering, paranoia and indecision". She concluded: "For me, it was trying to combine the two things - his family and his work - that has proved so difficult. He is no longer a working royal. And so can't act like one."
