Will public pay for Prince Harry's security? Lowdown on Duke's fight with UK

Prince Harry-Meghan Markle: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle lost their police protection when they ceased to be “working” members of the royal family.

Prince Harry lost a legal challenge- a blow to his years-long effort to pay for police officers to protect him and his family while they’re in the United Kingdom. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle lost their police protection when they ceased to be “working” members of the royal family in 2020. Here's a lowdown on what has happened so far:

Prince Harry-Meghan Markle: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex are seen. (AP)

1. Prince Harry offered to pay privately to have the police protection reinstated, stressing that his goal was “not to impose on the taxpayer”.
2. This was rejected by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (known as Ravec), which oversees the security of public figures.
3. Prince Harry challenged Ravec’s decision, pushing for a judicial review saying that the payment for “special police services” was allowed under the law.
4. UK government opposed him, arguing that allowing people to pay for police security would create a two-tier system.
5. It would also create chaos as the type of protection required for Prince Harry was distinct other events, the UK government said. Such representations “would have been highly likely to have made no substantial difference” to its decision anyway, it said.
6. The Metropolitan Police, which was previously responsible for protecting Prince Harry, said it would be wrong for “a policing body to place officers in harm’s way upon payment of a fee by a private individual”.
7. A High Court judge decided not to move ahead with a judicial review saying, “In my judgment, the short answer to this point is that Ravec did not say that it would be contrary to the public interest to allow wealthy individuals to pay for any police services."
8. The court said that “its reasoning was narrowly confined to the protective security services that fall within its remit. Those services are different in kind from the police services provided at, for example, sporting or entertainment events, because they involve the deployment of highly trained specialist officers, of whom there are a limited number, and who are required to put themselves in harm’s way to protect their principals."
9. The decision comes a week after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were involved in, as they characterised it, a “near catastrophic” car chase with paparazzi in New York.
10. “Last night, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Ms Ragland were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi,” a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan said in a statement.