A known stalker came within feet of Prince Harry on two separate occasions during his latest visit to the UK.
The woman, who is thought to be on a list of “fixated individuals” drawn up by private intelligence for the duke’s personal protection team, is said to have entered a “secure zone” at a London hotel where he was attending awards on 9 September. The woman is believed to have previously followed him to Nigeria.
She was later “body blocked” by his private staff after being recognised just a few metres from him at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in west London.
It comes after the duke lost a legal challenge against the Home Office over his UK security arrangements in May of this year. The Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) had previously decided he should receive a reduced degree of security protection when in the country following his decision to step down as a senior royal.
Prince Harry’s legal team had argued the decision put his “life at stake”, but a Court of Appeal judge said Ravec’s decision was “understandable and perhaps predictable”.
The incidents could now be used as evidence that the duke faces a severe threat to his safety while in the UK. He was last risk assessed in April 2019 and is pursuing an updated analysis after being provided with little to no police protection on his last visits.
A security source said the duke had “got lucky” on this occasion but added that relying on luck was “not a long-term fix”.
“These incidents are not uncommon for members of the Royal Family,” they told The Independent. “It differs however, because there was no police presence or close protection — it was left to two staffers from his private office to intervene. This time they got lucky, recognising the fixated individual. Relying on luck is not a long-term fix.
“He’s the son of the King, brother of the heir, fifth in line to the throne and one of the most famous people in the world. It feels like there is an inevitable foreboding looming over this whole issue.”
In December 2023, Prince Harry told a court in an earlier legal challenge: “It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020.
“The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the US. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.
“I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
The Metropolitan Police said it did not comment on security arrangements as standard.
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