Royal | News - Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Prince Harry is “clearly being treated completely differently to everyone else” regarding his security, according to one of his pals, who claimed that Taylor Swift was granted police protection, unlike the duke, on her summer tour in the UK.
The Duke of Sussex has been in a legal battle with the UK Government after he contested the Home Office’s February 2020 decision that he should receive a different degree of protection when he returned to the UK following his departure from the Royal Family.
He lost the case back in February with High Court judge Sir Peter Lane finding that “there has not been any unlawfulness in reaching the decision” to revise his security, however, he is expected to appeal in April.
Ms Swift was granted police escort to her Wembley Stadium shows in August after terror threats forced the cancellation of her Vienna shows earlier that month, the Telegraph reports.
Now a source has hit out at the level of security granted to the duke when he visits his home country and claimed that even though the US pop star is faced with “less threats” that Prince Harry, he is treated “completely different” when it comes to his security.
They told People: “The Government’s decision to provide Taylor Swift with armed police escorts during her August 2024 Wembley Stadium performances highlight significant inconsistencies in how protection decisions are made by UK authorities, raising questions about the transparency and consistency of the process.
“Clearly Prince Harry is being treated completely differently to everyone else,” the insider continues.
They added that the case “demonstrates the need for a more systematic and transparent approach to protection decisions, ensuring both public safety and equitable application of security resources.”
Another source told the Telegraph: “The decision to provide a police escort for Taylor Swift has exposed troubling inconsistencies in how protection decisions are reached.”
“Whilst Prince Harry is denied protection despite consistent, long-standing and well-documented threats, we saw extraordinary measures being taken here – including the Met seeking counsel from the Attorney General – for a visiting performer – because that performer’s manager and parent threatened to pull her out if she wasn’t given the protection they wanted for her.”
Meanwhile, Neil Basu, a former assistant commissioner of the Met police, claimed the force was right to grant protection to the US singer in order to manage the “political and possible economic impact of getting it wrong or cancelling the show”.
He explained: “I would have made the same decision. But the same logic applies surely to the youngest son and family of our King?
“There remains a broad spectrum of threats from online actors/trolls stirring hate as well as organised terror groups against prominent public figures, and the Sussex family will be one of the most prominent targets.”
Express.co.uk has approached the Home Office for comment.