Prince Harry Declares 'There Is No Possibility' to Keep Meghan Markle and Their Kids Safe in the U.K. Without Royal Security
Prince Harry is continuing his legal battle against the British government to obtain state-sponsored security while traveling in the U.K., and the Duke of Sussex revealed he fears for Meghan Markle and their children's well-being while in the territory.
Court documents revealed Harry wants Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet "to feel at home" in Britain.
Despite Harry's desires, he claimed he cannot visit his native nation "if there is no possibility to keep them safe when they are on U.K. soil."
Harry was stripped of his security and HRH status after he stepped down from his senior-level position, but he shared that the move was something he was pushed into doing.
"It was with great sadness to both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020," he admitted.
"The U.K. is my home. The U.K. is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the United States," the famous redhead noted. "That cannot happen if there is no possibility to keep them safe when they are on U.K. soil."
Harry has been open about the anxiety he has around being a public figure and dealing with the media, and he shared a similar sentiment in statements given to London's High Court.
"I can't put my wife in danger like that, and given my experiences in life, I'm reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm's way too," he added.
In 2022, Harry's attorney Shaheed Fatima discussed his petition to maintain certain privileges at the Royal Courts of Justice.
"Of course, it should go without saying that he wants to come back: to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart," Fatima explained. "Most of all, this is, and always will be, his home."
The Home Office decided his personnel would be given on a case-by-case basis due to Harry's position being "materially changed" because "he would no longer be a working member of the royal family and would be living abroad for the majority of the time."
- Prince Harry Admits the U.K. Is 'Central to the Heritage' of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in Legal Battle Against the Government
- Caught in a Lie? Queen Elizabeth Wanted Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to Have 'Effective Security,' New Letter Reveals
- Prince Harry Admits He 'Felt Forced' to Leave the Royal Family in 2020
In Harry and Meghan's 2021 tell-all interview, the duo shared that they never quit their jobs as royals.
"We never left the family and we only wanted to have the same type of role that exists, right? There’s senior members of the family and then there are non-senior members," Meghan explained to Oprah Winfrey.
"And we said, specifically, ‘We’re stepping back from senior roles to be just like several . . .’ I mean, I can think of so many right now who are all . . . they’re royal highnesses, prince or princess, duke or duchess . . . who earn a living, live on palace grounds, can support the Queen if and when called upon," she continued.
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Before the Sussexes settled into their home in Montecito, Calif., they had hoped to live in a Commonwealth country.
"So we weren’t reinventing the wheel here," she revealed. "We were saying, ‘OK, if this isn’t working for everyone, we’re in a lot of pain, you can’t provide us with the help we need, we can just take a step back. We can do it in a Commonwealth country’. We suggested New Zealand, South Africa."