Lawyers for Prince Harry say he does not feel safe bringing his children back to the United Kingdom because of a lack of police protection for his family, The Associated Press reports.
Harry is legally challenging the U.K. government’s policy that he cannot pay for personal protection from the country’s police force when he travels back to his homeland.
The prince “does not feel safe when he is in the U.K. given the security arrangements applied to him,” lawyer Shaheed Fatima told the High Court in London, according to the AP.
Harry’s lawyers said at a court hearing Friday that his motivation for personal police protection is the safety of the two young children he has with his wife Meghan, the duchess of Sussex.
Some senior members of the British royal family are provided with police protection funded by the government. However, taxpayer-funded protection is no longer afforded to Harry and Meghan after their choice to resign as working royals in 2020.
Robert Palmer, a lawyer on behalf of the British government, said that Harry’s legal challenge was “unarguable and unmeritorious,” the AP reported. He added that an offer to pay for personal police security is irrelevant because “personal protective security by the police is not available on a privately financed basis.”
“It goes without saying that he does want to come back to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart,” said Fatima in the hearing. “Most of all, this is and always will be, his home.”
Harry did not attend the hearing Friday and some parts of the case documents may be kept private due to both sides’ requests, the AP noted.