Prince Harry has been given permission to appeal the British government’s rejection to provide him with publicly funded police protection in the UK.

The Court of Appeal gave the Duke of Sussex the go-ahead to challenge a ruling earlier this year in the High Court. The permission was granted in May but only reported Thursday.

Judge Peter Lane ruled in February that a government panel’s decision to provide bespoke security on an as-needed basis after Harry quit as a working member of the royal family was not unlawful, irrational or unjustified.

Insofar as the case-by-case approach may otherwise have caused difficulties, they have not been shown to be such as to overcome the high hurdle so as to render the decision-making irrational, Lane wrote.

The long-running fight began more than four years ago when Harry first challenged the panel’s decision, arguing that he and his family need an armed security detail because of hostility directed toward him and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on social media and relentless hounding by the news media.

Harry, 39, the younger son of King Charles III, has bucked royal family convention to challenge the government in court and sue the tabloid press.

He won a big victory in December after a judge found phone hacking at Mirror Group Newspapers was widespread and habitual. He has two similar cases remaining against the publishers of The Sun and Daily Mail.

The security case appeared to be dead after the High Court in April rejected his first request to appeal Lane’s decision. But Justice David Bean on the Court of Appeal said on May 23 that he could challenge the lower court decision.

First Published: Jun 07 2024 | 7:04 AM IST