The Duke of Sussex’s claim that he is the victim of a “stitch-up” after losing a legal challenge over his UK security is “really offensive,” his former royal protection officer has said.
Ken Wharfe, who was a royal protection officer to royals including Harry, William and their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, believes the duke has “played the wrong card” regarding his security.
Harry can not expect the “all-singing-and-dancing protection that you had when you were in the United Kingdom” and was a working member of the royal family, like his father, the King, and his brother, the Prince of Wales, according to Mr Wharfe.
Harry now needs to show some “humility” if he wants to begin talks with his UK family, along with the government and police, to try and improve his security.
Harry has called for the Home Secretary to review the body that authorises protection for senior royals after he lost a Court of Appeal challenge over his security arrangements while in the UK.
It prompted him to tell the BBC in an interview that he “can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK”.
Mr Wharfe told the PA news agency: “On the security issue, I think he has really played the wrong card.
“I don’t see how he can expect to get full protection when he arrived back in the UK, when he is no longer a member working the royal family, when he knows that the actual security package comes at the expense of the British taxpayer.
“The government and the police are quite together on this.
“They are saying, ‘well, we understand that, but we can’t suddenly just push on buttons to give you the all-singing-and-dancing protection that you had when you were in United Kingdom,’ the same that his mother had, his brother enjoys, and now it is, of course, his father and Queen Camilla.
“What the government has given and the police is a protection of sorts to guarantee his safety, which will be based on risk assessment that, quite frankly, is about the best he can expect.
“The High Court has seen that. The appeal court has seen it. The government has seen it. The police have seen it – so where’s the problem?”
Harry failed in his appeal against the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office, over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of protection when in the UK.
He told the BBC he can only come to the UK safely if he is invited, and Charles could help resolve the situation not by intervening, but by “stepping aside and allowing the experts to do what is necessary”.
The duke continued: “That said, this all was initiated under a previous government. There is now a new government.
“I have had it described to me, once people knew about the facts, that this is a good old-fashioned establishment stitch-up, and that is what it feels like.”
Harry said he is “feeling very let down” adding: “What I’m struggling to forgive, and will probably always struggle to forgive, is that a decision that was made in 2020 that affects me every single day, and that is knowingly putting me and my family in harm’s way.”
Mr Wharfe said: “With regards to the stitch-up, I think that’s really offensive… I think what he should be doing now is actually showing some humility, certainly towards his father.
“If a reconciliation is part of what he wants, then this is hardly the way to go about reconciling the differences that exist within your family.”
Harry’s level of security changed in 2020 when he and Meghan stepped down as working royals and moved to Canada, and then California, for financial and personal freedom.
Mr Wharfe said he does not know of the threats Harry now faces.
He says now that he has lost his latest legal battle over security, Harry should try to “begin a way of reconciling with his family and agreeing and approaching both the government and the police in a way that there may be some protection that’s better than what he’s now receiving”.
In the interview with the BBC, Harry also claimed the King, who is being treated for cancer, will not speak to him and he does not know “how much longer my father has” left.
Mr Wharfe added: “The fact that his father has cancer must be a very worrying aspect for him.
“I think this situation he currently finds himself in must be incredibly lonely.
“I’m sure he is ultimately concerned about his father’s health.”
He also noted that if Harry has greater knowledge than most people about Charles’s health, “he may have a good reason to worry about how long his father has to live”.
It would mean “there’s even a greater wish upon his part, perhaps, to see his father and to reconcile his differences”.
After the court ruling, a Home Office spokesman said: “We are pleased that the court has found in favour of the Government’s position in this case.
“The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate.
“It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.”
