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Prince Harry Loses Appeal To Restore UK Police Protection

Published

1 year 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

‘Pioneer Of Cable TV News’: Key Facts About CNN Founder, Ted Turner

Published

1 week ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

Ted Turner, the media businessman who founded CNN died at the age of 87. He died peacefully on Wednesday, surrounded by family, according to Turner Enterprises.

Contents

Launched 24-hour news television

Built a media network

Expanded through sports

Recognition and influence

Philanthropy and global causes

Environmental efforts

Health and later years

Early career path

Leadership and legacy

Personal life

Exit from business

Family

Below are key facts about his life and impact:

Launched 24-hour news television

Turner founded CNN on June 1, 1980, introducing the first 24-hour news channel and changing how audiences follow global events.

Built a media network

He moved from billboards into broadcasting, turning an Atlanta TV station into a national superstation in 1976. His business later grew to include CNN International, TNT, Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network.

Expanded through sports

Turner invested in sports broadcasting and owned teams including the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks, using television to reach wider audiences.

Recognition and influence

In 1991, he was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year for his role in shaping modern news coverage.

Philanthropy and global causes

He founded the United Nations Foundation and supported campaigns against nuclear weapons. In 1997, he pledged $1 billion to the United Nations.

Turner supported conservation work, including reintroducing bison in the United States, and backed environmental education through the “Captain Planet” cartoon.

Health and later years

In 2018, Turner revealed he had Lewy body dementia. He also recovered from a mild case of pneumonia in early 2025.

Early career path

He took over his father’s billboard company at 24 after his father’s death and later expanded into radio and television, despite limited experience in journalism.

“I worked until 7 o’clock, and when I got home the news was over,” he once said. “So I missed television news completely. And I figured there were lots of people like me.”

Leadership and legacy

“Ted was an intensely involved and committed leader, intrepid, fearless and always willing to back a hunch and trust his own judgement,” Mark Thompson, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, said in a statement. “He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN. Ted is the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognize him and his impact on our lives and the world.”

Personal life

Turner married actress Jane Fonda in 1991, and they later divorced after 10 years, though they remained close.

“I would never love anyone like I love him,” she said. “But I just couldn’t keep moving in his world, along the surface for the rest of my life. I knew that I would get to the end of my life and regret not doing the things that I also needed to do for me.”

Exit from business

He sold his company to Time Warner in 1996 and later stepped away following its merger with AOL.

Reflecting on his life, Turner once said: “I lost Jane. I lost my job here. I lost my fortune, most of it. Got a billion or two left. You can get by on that if you economize.”

Family

He is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Headline

Iran’s Nationwide Internet Shutdown Hits 70 Days

Published

1 week ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

NetBlocks, a monitoring group, has disclosed that an internet shutdown enforced by the Iranian regime has entered its 70th day, severing key access from swathes of the population under the shadow of war.

NetBlocks reported on Friday that the blackout has now surpassed 1,656 hours, marking more than two months since US-Israeli strikes pounded Tehran and escalated across the Middle East.

“Digital connectivity is vital in times of crisis,” NetBlocks said in a post on X. “Limiting service harms those most in need – people with disabilities, students, small businesses and the general public.”

According to CNN, Iran imposed a separate internet shutdown on the country’s 92 million people earlier this year, when it launched the most lethal crackdown on anti-government protesters since the Islamic Republic’s founding 47 years ago.

CNN further reports that the latest blackout has cut off another potential lifeline for Iranian residents faced with high unemployment and economic pressure exacerbated by the US-Israeli campaign.

(CNN)

Headline

Gas Prices In US Edge Down After Two Weeks Of Increases

Published

1 week ago

May 9, 2026

Editor

The cost of a gallon of regular gas in the United States (US) has edged down a little more than a penny to $4.55.

According to AAA’s readings, this marks the first decline in the average gas price after 15 straight days of increases.

The decline is minuscule compared to the large increases in gas prices over the last two weeks.

According to CNN, gasoline costs rose an average of nearly 4 cents a day during that period and had several daily increases of between 7 and 9 cents.

Also Read: Trump insists US-Iran ceasefire intact despite recent exchange of fire

CNN also reports that based on past gas spikes, it will likely take weeks for gas prices to get down below $4 a gallon.

The report, however, states that a previous two-week stretch of gas price declines only shaved 14 cents off the average price, taking the average price to $4.02, before the recent 15-day run of increases.

According to CNN, it could take months for the average price to fall below $3 per gallon, as it did before the war in Iran.

CNN further reports that only one state – Oklahoma – now has an average price of less than $4 a gallon, and its average stands at $3.98. California has the highest average price at $6.16.

(CNN)