Prince Harry says no return to UK but seeks royal reconciliation

LONDON - Prince Harry said Friday he wanted to reconcile with his estranged family, but was "devastated" at losing a court battle over his security that meant he could not return to the UK with his family.

Looking visibly upset, Harry revealed to the BBC that his father, King Charles III, no longer speaks to him because of the security issue and urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to intervene.

"Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things. But ... I would love for reconciliation," he said.

The prince, also known as the Duke of Sussex, stepped down from royal family duties in 2020 and moved to the United States with his wife, Meghan and young son Archie.

King Charles III's youngest son has been embroiled in a years-long legal battle after the UK government downgraded his security.

But he told the BBC from California he did not want any more legal battles, suggesting he would not go to the Supreme Court.

"Life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has ... he won't speak to me because of this security stuff," Harry said.

Charles was diagnosed with an unspecified cancer in February 2024 and has been receiving weekly treatment.

Harry reportedly only found out from the media that his 76-year-old father had been briefly hospitalised with ill effects from his treatment in April.

The prince, 40, said he had been "devastated" by Thursday's court judgement, which threw out his bid to restore fully his police protection while visiting Britain.

"For the time being, it's impossible for me to take my family back to the UK safely," he added.

Harry was not present for the judgment when Judge Geoffrey Vos dismissed the appeal, saying the duke's "sense of grievance" had failed to translate into a legal argument.

Harry's security was now a "more bespoke, and generally lesser, level of protection than when he was in the UK," Vos said.

This, however, did not "of itself give rise to a legal complaint", he added.

Since moving to California, Harry and Meghan have had a second child, Lilibet, a sister to Archie born in 2019, and rarely engage with the British royals.

The government committee, which handles protection for royals and public figures in 2020 decided he would not receive the same level of publicly-funded protection when in Britain as he did previously.

After initially losing a High Court case challenging the decision last year, the prince was allowed to launch an appeal against the interior ministry.

His lawyers argued Harry was "singled out" for "unjustified and inferior treatment" and that the committee did not fully assess the security threats when downgrading his protection.

(L-R) Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the long Walk at Windsor Castle on September 10, 2022, before meeting well-wishers. (AFP/Files)

'Stitch-up'

Harry, whose older brother is heir-to-the-throne Prince William, has long been haunted by the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a high-speed car crash as she tried to escape paparazzi photographers.

The prince has blamed the press for the tragedy and cited intense media scrutiny as one of the reasons he and Meghan took a step back five years ago.

The prince admitted to the BBC "I miss the UK" adding "it's really quite sad that I won't be able to show... my children my homeland."

In the two-day appeal hearing last month, Harry's lawyers said the Sussexes had been threatened by al-Qaeda and involved in a "dangerous car pursuit with paparazzi" in New York City, as an example of the security dangers he faces.

"There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security and whose life is at stake," the prince's lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, said.

Harry called Thursday's court decision a "good old fashioned establishment stitch up" and accused the Royal Household of influencing the ruling.

He alleged the security issue had been "used as leverage" to control him and urged his father and the government to help.

While Harry has maintained a relatively low profile since 2020, Meghan has boosted her online presence this year, launching a podcast and Netflix series and making a return to social media.