:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/PrinceHarryandMeghanMarkle-8e8196bb2f844721b7e7c8f83d20d6c2.jpg "Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle “Felt Forced” To Step Back From Royal Family")
Prince Harry appeared in court today to discuss the decision to downgrade his security. In January 2020, he and his wife, Meghan Markle, decided to “step back as senior members of the Royal Family.” Lawyers for the Duke and Duchess told the court that they “felt forced to step back from the role of full-time official working members of The Royal Family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution.”
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The lawyers also said they “wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of The Royal Family.”
The couple’s legal team argued that before their security was downgraded, there was a meeting at Buckingham Palace a few days after they announced their retreat from the spotlight to discuss their security detail, and it “does not appear to have been discussed at any formal RAVEC [Royal and VIP Executive Committee] meeting.”
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After it was decided that they would no longer receive the same security detail that is normally given to members of the royal family, Prince Harry pursued legal action against the Home Office for their February 2020 decision to discontinue his publicly funded police protection. He lost the first part of the case but was given the chance to appeal and argue that the decision for RAVEC to take away his security violated official policy, the New York Times reports.
Now, as he ramps up this renewed legal battle, Harry’s lawyer, Shadeed Fatima KC, is attempting to get the courts to see that the U.K. government did not properly asses he and his family’s risk and did not consult the Risk Management Board (RMB) when they made their decision. The Duke says this made him feel “singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.”
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He wrote a letter in February 2020, in which he brought up how his mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a car crash after being pursued by paparazzi. Prince Harry went on to write that his family feel even more threatened because of “additional layers of racism and extremism.”
The hearing is also set for April 9.
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