The Sussexes’ UK visit has reportedly been plunged into chaos after Harry’s request for taxpayer-funded police security was reportedly denied just days before the family was due to fly out
Prince Harry has supposedly reconsidered bringing Meghan Markle and their young kids to the UK for a visit after a request for police protection was reportedly denied.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had planned to fly out to the UK next month for events marking the one-year countdown to Harry’s 2027 Invictus Games, in Birmingham. Harry and Meghan had planned to bring Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, along for the couple’s first UK visit together in four years.
Prince Harry’s team put a formal request into the police for taxpayer-funded security but were reportedly told on Friday that this request was rejected.
The family were due to travel on the first weekend of July and stay for a week, in what would be Lilibet’s first ever visit to the UK. Harry has previously said the UK was “not safe” to bring his wife and kids but was understood to have changed his mind this time while accepting an offer to stay at a royal residence, believed to be Buckingham Palace, according to reports.
In the past, the price has refused offers to stay in royal residence’s during other UK trips. Now, the visit appears to be up in the air with the prince thought to be rethinking his decision to bring Meghan and the children.
The Duke’s access to police protection was removed in 2022 when the couple quit the family and moved to the US. Harry was told her would have to give the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) 30 days’ notice of any planned visit to the UK alongside his schedule.
The Mirror reported earlier this week that Harry had become “increasingly frustrated” that a review into his request for taxpayer-funded security was taking more than six months. Sources have claimed the prince has been left distraught by the security rejection, which has come just a few days before they were due to jet out.
A source close to the Duke said: “He has grown increasingly frustrated with the whole process and has had to alter his standpoint. From initially being told a decision would be made within a matter of weeks, it is now more than six months on. He (Harry) was determined to travel back to the UK with his family around the Invictus event, so he has finally made the decision to accept the offer of staying at a royal residence which he believes will be sufficient for this trip.”
A source, according to The Times, claimed Harry “just wants his kids to see their grandfather” but is reconsidering whether it is safe to bring the five and seven-year-old.
A government spokesperson said: “The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”
It is understood Ravec carries out security decisions on behalf of the government and the Home Secretary is not involved in individual decisions. It was reported the couple planned several family trips with their kids for the visit, including supposedly taking Archie and Lilibet to visit Diana’s grave, at Althorp House.
