Prince Harry's First Day In Court Has Twitter Talking
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, has been feeling the aftershocks of stepping away from official royal duties in early 2020. These include his family no longer having access to the same police protection they had when they were "working members of The Royal Family."
The duke made an initial request for continued protection to Queen Elizabeth in January 2020, the BBC reports, but was denied. But after being chased by photographers in London in July 2021, Prince Harry applied for judicial review of the queen's decision, offering to pay for the protection himself. However, this request was again denied. According to The Guardian, Robert Palmer QC, representing the Home Office, argued "personal protective security by the police is not available on a privately financed basis," making Harry's offer to pay irrelevant.
In a statement made about Prince Harry's case, the argument was made that, "Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life" (via Town & Country). This risk of course extends to his wife, Meghan Markle, and children, Archie and Lilibet. The statement goes on to site the fact "his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremists threats."
This week, the High Court heard Prince Harry's challenge to the original denial of protection. While he has a security team in the United States — which he pays for — the Daily Mail reports another layer of the duke's argument is that the security he does have "does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad to access UK intelligence information which is needed to keep his family safe."
Twitter has feelings about Prince Harry's first day in court
While Prince Harry was not in court himself this week, The Guardian reports his argument was that the initial denial of protection was made through an "over rigid application of the policy" and "relevant considerations" regarding Harry's special situation — having been born a royal — was not taken into account.
Royal fans and foes took to Twitter this week in the wake of the news about this first court case about the security issue. Some critics called the prince spoiled, with one user pointing out the "existing pressures on the [Metropolitan Police]" who are preparing for the queen's Platinum Jubilee celebration. "Let him hire his own security," they added.
Meanwhile, many fans of the Sussexes are seeing the continued denial of security as a sign the establishment does not want Prince Harry and his family to return to the United Kingdom. "The [royal family] has failed him in many ways, no one is on his side," one user tweeted, questioning why money was supplied for Prince Andrew's court case settlement when Harry can't get the security he needs for his family. "They need to stop this BS," another pro-Sussex user tweeted. "The man said he would pay himself."
As divided as Twitter seems to be over the subject of Prince Harry's fight for security, it's clear they believe this is going to make or break the relationship between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Archie, and Lilibet with the rest of the royal family.