Prince Harry is reconsidering bringing his wife Meghan and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, to the UK next month after the government rejected his request for police protection, leaving him “distraught” just days before the family was due to arrive.
The duke’s team had submitted a formal security request to the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), the Home Office body that decides protection for senior royals. On Friday, hours after announcing details of the visit, they were told no taxpayer-funded security would be provided.
“Prince Harry reconsidering visit after police protection rejected days before family due to arrive.”
The trip was meant to be the family’s first to Britain in four years, timed to mark the one-year countdown to the Invictus Games in Birmingham in July 2027, which Harry founded. He was due to attend events and visit charities including WellChild and Scotty’s Little Soldiers. According to reports, he also planned to take Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, to see the grave of his mother, Princess Diana, at Althorp.
The highlight of the visit was to be a reunion with King Charles – the first time the children would have seen their grandfather in person since the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Harry last met the King for tea at Clarence House in September last year.
But the security decision has thrown the trip into doubt. A source close to Harry told the Guardian the plans were “pulled out from under their feet at the 11th hour”. The prince, the source said, “will not put his children through” being chased by paparazzi “from the moment they step off the plane”.
Harry had already accepted an offer to stay on a royal estate as a guest of the King, but Buckingham Palace sources said they had not received confirmation that the offer was accepted. Police protection would be available on the estate but not outside it. The couple had planned to use private accommodation as well.
This is not the first security row. Last year, Harry lost a legal battle to secure automatic police protection when in the UK. He had previously told the BBC he could not see “a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK”.
A government spokesman called the protective security system “rigorous and proportionate”. The prince’s team is now exploring every option to save the visit. A final decision is expected in the coming days.