Prince Harry has said he wants to make peace with the Royal Family, even as he expressed deep sadness over losing a legal case about his security in the United Kingdom.
Speaking to the BBC from California, the Duke of Sussex said, “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point continuing to fight anymore, life is precious.”
The 39-year-old royal said his relationship with his father, King Charles III, is currently strained. “He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff,” he said. Harry added that he was heartbroken by the situation and worried about how much time he has left with his father.
The interview came shortly after the UK Court of Appeal dismissed Prince Harry’s challenge over his right to receive full police protection when he and his family are in the UK. The court ruled that while Harry had strong concerns, his argument did not hold up legally.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to the US. After this, the UK government downgraded their security level. Harry tried to reverse that decision but has now lost at the appeal level.
“I’m devastated,” Harry said. “Not just because I lost, but because of the people behind the decision… people who think this is okay.”
He said he now feels unsafe bringing his wife and children to the UK. “I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK at this point,” he told the BBC.
The prince said he has “forgiven” members of his family for past disagreements and said the fight over security had always been a key issue. He blamed the Royal Household for interfering with the security decisions.
“Everybody knew they were putting us at risk in 2020. And they hoped that me knowing that risk would force us to come back. But when that didn’t work, do you not want to keep us safe?” he asked.
Harry also expressed shock after learning that someone from the Royal Household was involved in the security committee that made the 2020 decision. “My jaw hit the floor,” he said.
He believes the Royal Household had too much influence over the decision and called the court’s ruling a “good old-fashioned establishment stitch-up.” He said his security status was changed “overnight” from most at-risk to least at-risk, and questioned the reason behind it.
The UK Home Office argued that the committee acted sensibly, even though it did not follow its own usual process. The judges agreed that the special circumstances made the decision reasonable.
Despite his disappointment, Prince Harry said he will not take the case any further in court. However, he called on Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to review how the security committee works.
In a later statement, he said he would write to Cooper and ask her to “urgently examine the matter and review the Ravec process.”
Even with all the tension, Prince Harry said he still loves his home country. “I love my country, I always have done,” he said. “It’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”
Harry and Meghan have been living in the US since 2020 with their two children.
