The Duke and Duchess of Sussex "felt forced to step back" from their roles as senior working royals as they felt they "were not being protected by the institution", the Court of Appeal has been told.
Prince Harry and Meghan quit their royal roles in January 2020 but "wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family", the Duke's barristers told a hearing on Tuesday.
Harry made a previously unannounced appearance at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for the latest stage of a legal battle with the Home Office over the level of taxpayer-funded personal security he should receive when visiting the UK.
It's believed that he arrived in the British capital on Sunday, just hours before his father, King Charles, jetted off to Italy with his wife Queen Camilla for their four-day state visit.
HELLO! understands that the King headed to London on Sunday for a private appointment, therefore it was "not possible" for Harry and the monarch to reunite.
He arrived at the central London court on Tuesday morning for a two-day hearing, and was photographed waving as he entered. He looked smart dressed in a navy suit, a crisp white shirt and a patterned blue tie.
The Duke, 40, took legal action against the Home Office over the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
The Government said Harry's claim should be dismissed, arguing that Ravec – which falls under the Home Office's remit – was entitled to conclude the duke's protection should be "bespoke" and considered on a "case-by-case" basis.
The High Court was told that the decision was made as a result of a change in the duke's "status" after he stopped being a "full-time working member of the royal family".
In a judgment in February last year, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected Harry's case and concluded Ravec's approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair.
In his 52-page partially redacted ruling, Sir Peter said Harry's lawyers had taken "an inappropriate, formalist interpretation of the Ravec process".
Prince Harry's lawyer claims the Duke was 'singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment'
Opening the Duke of Sussex's case at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, his barrister Shaheed Fatima KC said: "When Ravec made its February 2020 decision about the appellant’s protective security, it did not apply its own terms of reference to that decision-making process."
She continued to say Ravec did not get an assessment from an "expert specialist body called the risk management board, or the RMB" and came up with a "different and so-called 'bespoke process'".
She said: "The appellant does not accept that 'bespoke' means 'better'. In fact, in his submission, it means that he has been singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment.
"Not only does this bespoke process not involve the RMB, it also involves Ravec considering the reason why the appellant is attending a particular event, even though that is plainly irrelevant to the question of security.”
Ms Fatima added: "The appellant's case is not that he should automatically be entitled to the same protection as he was previously given when he was a working member of the royal family.
"The appellant's case is that he should be considered under the terms of reference and subject to the same process as any other individual being considered for protective security by Ravec, unless there is a cogent reason to the contrary."
Harry's barrister says Ravec committee did not have expert analysis of risks
The barrister told the Court of Appeal that the failure to do a risk management board assessment for Harry meant that Ravec "did not have the expert analysis that it needed" to determine whether the duke should be treated like people in an "other VIP" category.
She continued: "Ravec did not make a reasonable decision because the appellant’s position is analogous to those in that 'other VIP' category. Had the judge properly evaluated the evidence, he would have come to that conclusion."
Prince Harry's appeal 'involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees,' says Home Office
The Home Office, which is legally responsible for Ravec's decisions, is opposing the appeal. In written submissions, Sir James Eadie KC, said that the appeal "involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees”.
He said: "(The Home Office) has, and continues to, treat (the duke) in a bespoke manner. He is no longer a member of the cohort of individuals whose security position remains under regular review by Ravec. Rather, he is brought back into the cohort in appropriate circumstances, and in light of consideration of any given context."
Harry and Meghan 'felt forced to step back' from royal life
In written submissions, Shaheed Fatima KC, for the Duke, said: "On 8 January 2020, (the duke) and his wife 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, but they wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family."
In the written submissions, parts of which were redacted for confidentiality reasons, Ms Fatima said Ravec ruled in 2020 that "there is no basis for publicly funded security support for the Duke and Duchess within Great Britain".
However, the Sussexes have faced a number of security threats since the decision, including one by al Qaida, which called for Harry "to be murdered". His security team was also informed that the terrorist group had published a document which said his "assassination would please the Muslim community", Ms Fatima said.
Harry and Meghan were also said to have been involved in a "dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi" in New York in May 2023, involving "reckless disregard of vehicle and traffic laws".
The incident is said to have happened after the Duchess received a Woman of Vision award at the Ms. Foundation for Women's annual gala.
Harry leaves court
The Duke waved to fans and reporters as he left the Royal Courts of Justice.
He smiled to fans who were shouting his name as he walked through Bell Yard to leave by car.
The hearing before Sir Geoffrey, Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edis is set to resume at 10.30am on Wednesday.
Sir Geoffrey previously said that some of Wednesday's hearing will be held in private because of confidential matters being discussed, before concluding in public.
Charles and Camilla's state visit to Italy
Harry's case at the Royal Courts of Justice also coincides with Charles and Camilla's state visit to Italy. The pair landed in Rome on Monday afternoon, and are expected to carry out a series of engagements over the next few days.
A highlight of the trip is likely to be a glittering black tie State Banquet, hosted by President Mattarella at the Quirinale on the King and Queen's 20th wedding anniversary on 9 April.
They will also visit the Colosseum, where the bands of the Welsh Guards and the Italian Granatieri di Sardegna will play together, after a flypast by the RAF's Red Arrows and their Italian counterparts the Frecce Tricolori.
In Ravenna, the King and Queen will commemorate 80 years since British and Canadian armed forces helped to liberate the city from Nazi occupation.
They will sample local delicacies with a British twist, including parmesan and whisky pairings, at a festival celebrating the Slow Food movement in Emilia-Romagna. The King will meet farmers who have been affected by recent flooding, while the Queen will meet representatives from a local domestic violence charity.
The royal visitors will also celebrate literary culture by visiting Dante's tomb, and the Queen will make a solo trip to the Byron museum.