Overview
- Reports on Monday say the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reconsidering a planned UK visit with their two children after the Metropolitan Police declined to provide full armed protection for Harry outside royal estates.
- The Met relies on independent, proportionate risk assessments to decide when armed officers are needed and has previously resisted calls to extend full royal police protection to Harry.
- Harry fought and lost a court case seeking blanket royal police protection, which established the legal backdrop for the current dispute over what security the Met will supply.
- Officials said normal protection will be in place when the couple are on royal estates, that off-estate travel would rely on the Sussexes' private security, and a government spokesman described the system as “rigorous and proportionate.”
- Television panellists have publicly criticised Harry’s demands as entitled, a reaction that could shape public opinion and complicate efforts at family reconciliation if the visit is delayed or called off.