Former royal guard slams Prince Harry for 'outrageous' police protection request

Prince Harry is threatening to file a judicial review if he is not granted police protection during visits to the U.K. in a letter sent to the Home Office. Ken Wharfe said reinstating security detail for the royal is impossible given that he is now considered a private citizen.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex left their roles as senior royals in March 2020 in favour of a more private life away from the media and to be financially independent. They have achieved both and have since settled into their new life with their two children, Archie and Lilibet, in Santa Barbara, California.

But the United Kingdom will always be Prince Harry's home country and where he would want to visit from time to time. But the 37-year old reasoned that the lack of police protection is preventing him from bringing his family into the country because he fears for their safety, as well as his. As such, he has challenged a U.K. government order that prevents him from personally paying for his own family's security detail.

Wharfe, who was the royal protection officer of Princess Diana, called the Duke of Sussex's request to reinstate his security detail "unthinkable" and "outrageous." He said the royal no longer deserves the protection as he is "now a private citizen, domiciled in a foreign country – entirely by his own choice."

"None of the royals wanted this to happen, least of all his father and brother, but it has. If he is granted the services of the Metropolitan's royal protection squad, for which he has magnanimously offered to pay, every visiting Hollywood star and wealthy celebrity may as well expect the same privileges," Wharfe wrote in a his piece for the Daily Mail.

He claimed that "Britain would face the humiliating prospect of hiring" the country's "highly trained and armed officers to any reality television narcissist or tinpot dictator's children who can foot the bill." He added that Prince Harry knew what he was sacrificing when he decided to abdicate his royal duties and that for him to be "threatening legal action against the Government, and by extension against the Queen herself, is completely unprecedented for any royal, even one who has abdicated his official duties."

Wharfe said that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle can no longer reclaim the benefits that came with being part of the royal family, which included police protection. Regardless of how "entitled" they believe they are and no matter how much money they are willing to pay.