The Duke of Sussex requested specific security protection after a threat was made against him by al-Qaeda, according to court documents.
Harry was at the Royal Courts of Justice in London last week for the latest stage of a legal battle with the Home Office over the level of taxpayer-funded personal security he believes he should receive when visiting the UK. A summary of some of the evidence that was heard in private during Harry’s appeal case last week reveals the Duke had made a request for protection following a threat from terrorists calling for the Prince to “be murdered”.
“The Appellant confirmed that he had requested certain protection after a threat was made against him by al-Qaeda,” the document says. Terrorist group al-Qaeda called for Harry to “be murdered” and published a document that said his “assassination would please the Muslim community,” the court heard.
Harry has previously said he faces a greater risk than his late mother, with “additional layers of racism and extremism”. He believes his family faces an “international threat” and has already highlighted that al-Qaeda had called for him to be killed.
Harry’s legal team claimed there was “no good reason” the royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec) departed from its usual process by not going to a risk management board to determine the Duke’s security assessment. In written submissions as part of Harry’s appeal, parts of which were redacted for confidentiality reasons, Shaheed Fatima KC, for the duke, said Ravec ruled in 2020 that “there is no basis for publicly funded security support for the Duke and Duchess within Great Britain”.
After that decision, Ms Fatima said al-Qaeda called for Harry “to be murdered” and published the document regarding the “pleasing” effect his “assassination” would have on the “Muslim community”. The Home Office, which is legally responsible for Ravec’s decisions, is opposing Harry’s appeal.
Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping back from official public duties on January 8 2020. The Duke and Duchess were later told during the so-called “Sandringham summit”, which aimed to agree the terms of their new role, that they would not be able to retain the full-time police protection.
Such protection is currently granted to the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children. Ravec’s final decision, shared on February 28 2020, stated Metropolitan Police protection would no longer be appropriate after the Sussexes’ departure, and that they should receive a different degree of protection when in the UK.
The Sussexes would instead receive a “bespoke” security service, whereby they would be required to give 30 days’ notice of any plans to travel to the UK, with each visit being assessed for threat levels and whether protection is needed. Shaheed Fatima KC told the appeal hearing the Duke had been “singled out for different, unjustified and inferior treatment”, adding that Harry “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,” she added. The Home Office is defending the appeal, previously telling the court the challenge “involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees, advancing propositions available only by reading small parts of the evidence, and now the judgment, out of context and ignoring the totality of the picture”.
A decision is expected in writing at a later date.
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