Prince Harry loses legal bid for police protection in UK as NYPD admits their pursuit of photographers was ‘dangerous’
You win a little and you lose a little.
The High Court in London ruled on Wednesday that Prince Harry and his immediate family, including wife Meghan Markle, will not be able to use tax-funded police protection when they visit the United Kingdom, according to multiple reports.
However, at the same time, the Duke of Suss*x has scored a small victory in the US, where it was revealed on Wednesday that the New York Police Department admitted that last year’s scandalous paparazzi car chase into the concrete jungle was indeed “reckless”. “And dangerous.”
Page Six reached out to Harry and Markle’s representatives for comment on the decisions but did not immediately receive a response. However, it has been reported that the former is planning to file an appeal against the UK ruling.
Harry, 39, stressed that security has been a major issue for him, his wife and their two children — Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2 — in the US and abroad since he and Markle left the royal family in 2020.
The Suss*x couple were stripped of the security provided to members of the royal family when they stopped serving as senior members of the family.
In February 2022, Sperry’s author insisted he “did not feel safe” in his home country because his immediate family had been “subject to well-documented threats from neo-Nazis and extremists.”
The Home Office – the government’s lead department for immigration, pa*sports, drugs policy, crime, fire, counter-terrorism and policing in the UK – said at the time that Harry had “failed to appreciate” their role as an “expert and democrat”. Responsible and decision-maker in matters related to preventive security.
Harry, who has spent millions on his own security, reportedly offered to pay for the additional police protection so as not to impact British taxpayers at the time, but “the offer was rejected.”
Amid legal action against the Home Office in December 2023, the father-of-two announced that he still considered the UK his home and wanted his children to feel the same way – but that this could not happen “if it is not possible to keep them safe while they are on UK soil”.
Harry and Markle, 42, moved to California – her home state – in 2020 and have been residing there with their children since then. However, their time in America was marred by security issues of its own.
In May last year, the couple were “shocked” by a paparazzi car chase in New York City, which their spokesperson claimed lasted two hours and was “almost disastrous” at the time.
Members of the Suss*xes were ridiculed by the public, including speakers such as Whoopi Goldberg, who claimed the couple were exaggerating what had happened.
“I think people in New York know that if a car chase could be done in New York, we would all make it to the theater on time,” the 68-year-old former “View” host said.
An NYPD spokesperson appeared to downplay the ordeal at the time, saying: “There were numerous photographers who made transportation difficult. The Duke and Duchess of Suss*x have arrived at their destination and no collisions, summonses, injuries or arrests have been reported in connection with this.
A highly placed source also previously said that there were “no reports of a collision or 911 calls” and that the chase “certainly did not last two hours.”
However, according to the Daily Beast, the NYPD has changed its stance, with its intelligence chief telling the London Metropolitan Police in a memo dated December 6, 2023, “We have found the following: reckless disregard for vehicle and traffic laws.” And the dangerous and unacceptable behavior on the part of the photographers continued during the night in question.
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“The individuals drove vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles in a manner that forced the security team, which included an NYPD vehicle, to take evasive action on several occasions and circle around to avoid collisions with pursuing vehicles or those trapped against side barriers. “
The intelligence chief concluded that the NYPD was considering pressing charges after the investigation, adding: “We have sufficient evidence to arrest two individuals on charges of reckless endangerment.”
The police department has also reportedly taken steps to better protect the Suss*xes the next time they return to the Big Apple after a paparazzi car chase.
Page Six reached out to the NYPD for comment but did not immediately receive a response.