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Prince Harry Loses Appeal To Restore UK Police Protection

Published

5 months ago

May 2, 2025

Prince Harry on Friday lost his appeal to restore his full UK police protection when visiting Britain — a blow to the estranged royal, who had said that the safety of his family was at risk.

King Charles III’s youngest son, also known as the Duke of Sussex, has been embroiled in the years-long legal saga since the UK government downgraded his security when he stepped down from royal life and left to live abroad with his wife, Meghan.

Harry was not present for the judgment at London’s Court of Appeal in which Judge Geoffrey Vos dismissed the appeal, saying the duke’s “sense of grievance” had failed to translate into a legal argument.

“From the Duke of Sussex’s point of view, something may indeed have gone wrong, in that an unintended consequence of his decision to step back from royal duties and spend the majority of his time abroad had been that he has been provided with a more bespoke, and generally lesser, level of protection than when he was in the UK,” Vos said.

This, however, did not “of itself give rise to a legal complaint”, he added.

Since moving to California in 2020, Harry and Meghan have had a second child, Lilibet, a sister to Archie born in 2019, and rarely engage with the British royals.

But the prince says security concerns have hampered his ability to visit the UK and bring his family with him.

The government committee, which handles protection for royals and public figures, in 2020 decided he would not receive the “same degree” as before of publicly funded protection when in Britain.

After initially losing a case in the High Court challenging the decision last year, he was allowed to launch an appeal against the interior ministry.

His lawyers argued Harry was “singled out” for “unjustified and inferior treatment” and that the committee did not fully assess the security threats when downgrading his protection.

Harry, whose older brother is heir-to-the-throne Prince William, has long been haunted by the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a high-speed car crash as she tried to escape paparazzi photographers.

The prince has blamed the press for the tragedy and cited intense media scrutiny as one of the reasons he and Meghan took a step back five years ago.

– Fraught ties –

In the two-day appeal hearing last month, Harry’s lawyers said the Sussexes had been threatened by al-Qaeda and involved in a “dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi” in New York City, as an example of the security dangers he faces.

“There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security and whose life is at stake,” the prince’s lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, said in her concluding statements.

In a 2023 High Court hearing, Harry, a former British army captain who served in Afghanistan, said it was too dangerous to bring his family to the UK without bolstered security.

“The UK is my home,” he said. “The UK is central to the heritage of my children. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe.”

However, the High Court concluded that the government had acted lawfully in its decision.

In the appeal hearing, government lawyers said Harry’s security was meant to be “bespoke” to his “revised circumstances”, adding it was a result of his decision to spend less time in the UK.

Harry’s fraught ties with his family have worsened after various public allegations that he and Meghan have made against the royals.

Harry and William are barely on speaking terms, according to UK media.

He has also hardly seen his father, King Charles, who has been receiving treatment for an unspecified type of cancer, for over a year.

While Harry has maintained a relatively low profile since 2020, Meghan has been boosting her online presence this year, having already launched a podcast and Netflix series and making a return to social media.

AFP

Related Topics:#UK Prince Harry UK police

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Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

10 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.

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Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

Published

10 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Criminal Court ‘D’ in Monrovia is set to deliver judgment this week in Liberia’s first piracy trial, involving two Nigerian nationals accused of hijacking a cargo vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to court records, the defendants were arrested earlier this year after a Liberia-flagged ship was seized by armed men while transporting goods through international waters. The crew sent a distress signal, prompting international maritime forces to intervene.

The suspects were subsequently transferred to Liberian authorities under global maritime cooperation protocols.

According to Liberia’s news platform, Front Page Africa, the case has attracted attention because Liberia maintains one of the world’s largest open ship registries, yet prosecutions for piracy within its domestic courts have not previously occurred. Under international law, Liberia holds jurisdiction over crimes involving ships registered under its flag.

On Monday, proceedings took a new turn when defense lawyer, Cllr. Bestman Juah, informed the court that the defendants had admitted responsibility for the hijacking and were requesting a plea-bargain arrangement. State prosecutors did not oppose the request, leaving open the possibility of reduced sentences in exchange for full cooperation.

Resident Judge Mameita Jabateh-Sirleaf, who presides over Criminal Court ‘D’, will rule on whether to accept the plea deal and determine the sentencing framework. The ruling could also address deportation measures following imprisonment.

Criminal Court ‘D’ handles cases involving armed robbery, terrorism, hijacking, and other serious crimes, and the piracy trial represents a growing trend of transnational offenses being prosecuted within Liberia’s judicial system.
As of press time, the court has not announced the date for sentencing.

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Spain Cancels $825m Israel Arms Deal Over Gaza

Published

10 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

The Spanish government has cancelled a contract worth nearly 700 million euros ($825 million) for Israeli-designed rocket launchers.

The move comes after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week that his government would “consolidate in law” a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel over its offensive in Gaza.

The contract, awarded to a consortium of Spanish companies, involved the purchase of 12 SILAM rocket launcher systems derived from the PULS platform made by Israeli firm Elbit Systems, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance.

First reported by local media and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the cancellation was formalised on Spain’s official public contracts platform on September 9.

The following day, Sanchez unveiled measures aimed at stopping what his leftist government called “the genocide in Gaza”.

It includes the approval of a decree imposing a ban on military equipment sales or purchases with Israel due to its military offensive in Gaza, launched after the Hamas attacks in October 2023.

Spain applied the ban as Israel stepped up its military onslaught.

Spain has also formalized the cancellation of another contract for 168 anti-tank missile launchers, which were to be manufactured under license from an Israeli company.

That contract, valued at 287 million euros, had been first reported by the press in June.

According to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, the government is undertaking a broader review to phase out Israeli weapons and technology from its armed forces.

Sanchez has emerged as one of Europe’s most outspoken critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Gaza policy.

Relations between the two countries have been tense for months.

Israel has not had an ambassador in Spain since Madrid recognized the state of Palestine in 2024.

Last week, Spain recalled its ambassador to Israel after heated exchanges over Sánchez’s new measures.

The Barcelona-based Delas Centre, a security research institute, estimated in April that since the start of the Gaza war, Spain had awarded 46 contracts worth $1.044 billion to Israeli companies, based on public tender data.