Attentive readers of the Daily Beast may recall how roundly Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were mocked when they claimed that a 2023 “car chase” in New York had been “near catastrophic,” only for footage to emerge of the prince, his wife, and her mom sitting in gridlocked traffic in the back of a yellow cab.
The impression that the Sussexes were exaggerating the mortal danger to their life and limb wasn’t helped when the taxi driver in question equably shrugged that they had never been in danger, the NYPD said no summons were issued and Mayor Eric Adams told reporters: “I would find it hard to believe that there was a two-hour high-speed chase.”
Unlikely as it may seem, Harry has invoked this low-speed car chase as an example of the security risks he faces, as he returned, in person, to a U.K. court Tuesday, saying he should be entitled to automatic police protection whenever he is on British soil.
The British government revoked automatic protection for Harry when he left the royal family and emigrated to America, and he now receives a “bespoke” package but has to give 28 days’ notice of plans to travel to the U.K. to avail of it.
Sources have previously told The Daily Beast that this suits the palace very well because it means Harry can’t turn up in the U.K. unannounced. Meghan is understood to be reluctant for her or her children to come to the U.K. without full protection.
Harry’s camp has told the Daily Beast that he thinks the king should effectively click his fingers and order Harry’s security package to be restored. One Sussex source previously said: “The fact that there is even any debate around (Harry’s) security is unbelievable when you look at the situation. The late queen made it really clear [at the Sandringham summit] that she wanted him and his family protected. She intervened to allow Andrew to keep his protection. Why is it impossible for his dad not to do the same for Harry? If the king wanted, he could do this for his son.”
Sources have said this is not accurate, and have also said the king is unwilling to meet Harry in person until the matter is settled in case Harry alleged he said something about the issue, and his alleged words were repeated in court, creating a legal and constitutional headache.
Senior aides to both Prince William, who now loathes and despises Harry, and the king are involved in the decision-making by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec).
Harry could be seen sitting in the Court of Appeal today as his legal team argued that he was “singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment” when he was denied the right to automatic police protection in the U.K.
Harry’s barrister Shaheed Fatima told the Court of Appeal that the security committee, Ravec, had failed in its duty when it had declined to undertake a risk analysis, saying such an assessment was “optional or discretionary”.
Written testimony from the NYPD, as previously reported by the Daily Beast, stated that Harry and Meghan were involved in a “dangerous car pursuit” with paparazzi in May 2023.
Proceedings in the Court of Appeal are live-streamed on YouTube, and the impression so far is that Harry’s barrister is having a tough time convincing a panel of skeptical judges of her client’s case.
In a TV interview last year, Harry said: “It’s still dangerous, and all it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read and whether it’s a knife or acid, whatever it is, and these are things that are of genuine concern for me… It’s one of the reasons why I won’t bring my wife back to this country.”
