The Prince of Wales ‘knows how important it is to protect your family’ but has refused to intervene in his brother’s security battle, a royal expert says.
Prince William ‘cannot get involved’ in Harry’s fight for taxpayer-funded security (Image: Getty)
Prince William “cannot and would not” get involved in his brother’s battle for taxpayer-funded security, a royal expert says. Prince Harry is set to visit London this week without Meghan Markle and their children following weeks of speculation.
A decision reportedly has yet to be made on whether Meghan, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, will accompany Harry to other parts of the UK. The Duke of Sussex has faced a protracted legal battle with the Home Office over the security arrangements for him and his family after the level of protection changed when he stepped down as a working royal in 2020.
His brother, the Prince of Wales, “knows how important it is to protect your family,” but will stay out of the debate over the provision of taxpayer-funded security during the trip, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said.
Harry was due to travel to the UK with Meghan and their children this month (Image: Getty)
Ms Bond told The Mirror: “William must surely have been paying attention to the row over Harry’s security. He could hardly avoid it. I would have thought it was one area where he might have a measure of sympathy for his brother.”
She added: “He knows just how important it is to protect your family. Like me, he might wonder why the decision has been taken not to give Harry and his family security for this very short period of time. But obviously, this is a decision which he cannot and would not get involved in.”
The former royal correspondent said trust remains a major issue for William, after his brother made a series of public revelations about the Royal Family in his autobiography Spare, something which he may not be able to ever forgive.
It comes after a source told Vanity Fair Harry had been left “devastated and close to tears” by his failure to secure protection for the trip, which will mark the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games.
“He had assumed that because he was bringing the kids, and the King had made a royal residence available to them, he would get what he has been pushing for all along – full time police protection,” the source added.
“That has not been the case. The King has made it clear that while he wants to see his estranged son and grandchildren, he will not intervene in security matters.”
Archie and Lilibet last saw their grandfather in person during Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.
When Harry lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the Home Office last year, he gave a BBC interview in which he expressed hopes of reconciliation with his family, revealing Charles would not speak to him because of the security court case.
He added: “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point and the things that they’re going to miss is, well, everything, you know.”