Why Prince Harry can’t win the security debate

There is no doubting the Duke of Sussex’s sincerity when he argues that his life is in danger on his visits to Britain. He faces threats as a member of the royal family and as a former soldier who has written openly of killing Taliban soldiers in his memoir Spare.

He has spoken movingly of threats to his wife Meghan from people with a racist agenda and of his wish to protect his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

But Prince Harry is failing to convince others of his need for automatic, 24-hour police protection. He is losing, not just legal cases, but in the court of public opinion, as a recent HELLO! poll indicates.

Before we get to the polling, a reminder of how Harry has pressed his case.

His bid to be allowed to pay for police protection foundered in 2023, when the Home Office successfully argued that officers should not be for hire as a service for the super rich. His claim that the Home Office should never have removed his state-funded protection was rejected by the Court of Appeal in May 2025.

In a spin

His attempts to pressure the government through canny public relations has also borne no fruit. In January, sources close to Harry told the Mail on Sunday that a Home Office review of Harry’s security provision was “now a formality” and that a restoration was “nailed on”.

The nail appears to have come loose, however, with no review forthcoming even as Harry prepared to bring his family to Britain for his visit to mark one year till the Invictus Games.

The Duke’s team seemed to be applying further pressure with the leak of a report by a private security firm, commissioned by Harry, to ITV and the Daily Telegraph. The report listed dozens of threats including six “terrorist plots” against him.

Popular opinion

None of this has made a big impression on HELLO! readers, who responded to a poll last week asking: is Prince Harry right to continue his security battle? Only 11% supported further action.

The opinion is shared more broadly, beyond the HELLO! readership. 

A poll by YouGov in April last year, a month before Harry lost his case, found that 22% supported the restoration of Harry’s state-funded security and 24% were against. By the end of 2025, that gap had widened to 17% in favour and 28% against. 

The most popular answer to the YouGov poll was that Harry should get police protection at his own expense, but there is little prospect of that changing.

Harry’s visit with his family earlier this month demonstrates that he is prepared to bring them without police protection. It also shows that he can enter and leave undetected, and even visit his mother’s grave at Althorp without any photographers to record it.

So what should happen next? Given that the Home Office is meant to conduct periodic reviews of his security, it seems strange that there is no sign of it having done so. Perhaps that would give a sense of progress, even if it recommends continuing with the status quo.

Harry is due to return to the UK in September for the WellChild Awards and again for Invictus next year. Everyone will be hoping for a smoother ride.