His appeal was rejected by three senior judges in May 2025 and he was likely to be held liable for the UK government’s legal fees. It was also revealed that during the proceedings Harry had leaked information via email to “a partner of Schillings” and to Johnny Mercer, for which he apologised to the court. Despite his lawyers’ attempts to have him pay no more than 50% of the Home Office’s legal costs of defending his challenge, the judge held him liable for 90% of the costs. In February 2024, the High Court ruled against Harry in his case against the Home Office and upheld the decision by RAVEC, stating that there had been no unlawfulness in the decision-making process for his security arrangements. In June 2023, a Freedom of Information request revealed that Harry’s legal fight with the Home Office had cost £502,236, with £492,000 covered by the state and the remaining £10,000 covered by Harry.
The Sussexes visited the UK and Germany in September 2022 for a number of charity events in Manchester and Düsseldorf. In April 2021, Harry returned to the UK to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Because infant son Archie travelled with the Sussexes, this was “their first official tour as a family”.

Personal life

In October 2024, the judge announced that the two sides should either settle or go to trial in January 2025 and refused to let Harry’s team include allegations that bugs were placed in rooms and cars, and trackers placed on vehicles as “no particulars whatsoever of such allegations” were provided. In May 2024, Mr Justice Fancourt refused Harry the permission to include claims against Rupert Murdoch, expand his case’s scope back to 1994 and 1995 to cover allegations involving his mother or to add new allegations from 2016 involving his then-girlfriend Meghan. In July 2023, the judge ruled that part of Harry’s case involving allegations of illegal information gathering would go to trial but his phone-hacking claims were dismissed for being made too late. Both brothers brought a claim privately through their mutual attorneys, but Harry decided to pursue his case separately with a new solicitor in 2019.

On social media and other platforms

They gave up the lease after photos of the house and its interior were published by a paparazzi agency. In May 2018, it was reported that they had signed a two-year lease on WestfieldLarge, located on the Great Tew Estate in the Cotswolds. However, this earlier exchange of vows was not an official religious or legally recognised marriage. In early 2009, it was reported the pair had parted ways after a relationship that had lasted for five years. On 18 January 2020, Buckingham Palace announced that an agreement had been reached for Harry “to step back from Royal duties, including official military appointments”. On 19 December 2017, he succeeded his grandfather Prince Philip as the Captain General Royal harry casino Marines.

• In January 2020, the Duke and Duchess announced that they were stepping back from their role as senior members of the royal family, and would balance their time between the United Kingdom and North America.
• The BBC reported on the “scrapped case”, highlighting NGN’s statement which said that the settlement agreement “drew a line under the past” and that they rejected the claims that would have been made in court about a corporate cover-up.
• In December 2025, it was announced that, for the first time since April 2019, RAVEC would reassess Harry’s threat level.
• In April 2019, it was announced that Harry was working as co-creator and executive producer on a documentary series about mental health together with Oprah Winfrey, which was initially set to air in 2020 on Apple TV+.
• Harry filed a lawsuit against the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police in August 2022, challenging the decision by RAVEC from January 2022 which stated that State security could not be made available to private individuals even if they wished to pay for it themselves.
• In October 2019, it was announced that Harry had sued the Daily Mirror, The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World “in relation to alleged phone-hacking”.

Andy Coulson, the editor of the News of the World, apologised to Harry and his brother for invading their privacy, accepting “ultimate responsibility” for the actions of Goodman. Former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman had previously stated that he had hacked Harry’s phone on nine occasions. In October 2019, it was announced that Harry had sued the Daily Mirror, The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World “in relation to alleged phone-hacking”.

Prince Harry reunites with father King Charles III for first time in over a year

In the same month, Conservative politician and MP Johnny Mercer, who was leading the efforts to waive visa fees for foreign-born UK veterans and their families, announced in the Commons that the Duke of Sussex was supportive of their proposal and viewed it as “morally right” and not as “a political intervention”. Harry was the subject of a prank by the Russian comedy duo Vovan and Lexus, who posed as climate activist Greta Thunberg and her father during two phone calls on New Year’s Eve and 22 January 2020. He added that he had struggled with aggression, had suffered from anxiety during royal engagements, and had been “very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions”. In 2017 and during an appearance on Bryony Gordon’s podcast Mad World, Harry acknowledged that with the support of his brother he had sought counselling years after his mother’s death. In the memoir, he also detailed taking magic mushrooms at a party at Courteney Cox’s house in January 2016. After some months in Canada and the United States, the couple bought a house in June 2020 on the former estate of Riven Rock in Montecito, California.

Privacy and the media

They are still referred to as “His/Her Royal Highness” in legal and private settings. Writing for The Guardian, Stephen Bates stated that Harry’s “megaphone diplomacy isn’t working” and “his private security needs are probably not near the top of anybody’s priorities”. Referring to the press as “the devil”, he also alleged that “certain members” of his family were “in the bed” with them to “rehabilitate their image”.

• The memoir is reportedly the first of a four-book publishing deal that is set to include a second book by Harry and a wellness guide by Meghan.
• Harry’s tour made him the first member of the British royal family to serve in a war zone since his uncle Prince Andrew, who flew helicopters during the Falklands War.
• In January 2020, lawyers issued a legal warning to the press after paparazzi photographs were published in the media.
• In January 2022, it was reported that Harry had been in a legal fight since September 2021 over the Home Office’s refusal to allow him to pay for police protection.
• The couple stepped back from their senior royal duties in 2020 and now live in California.

It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.” A government spokesperson added in a statement, “The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. His spokesman declined to comment, saying they don’t discuss security matters.

Following the first court hearing of the case by the High Court, it was revealed that Harry had ‘exceptional status’ and the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) still determined his personal protective security on a case-by-case basis. In January 2022, it was reported that Harry had been in a legal fight since September 2021 over the Home Office’s refusal to allow him to pay for police protection. The Government of Canada announced RCMP security would not be provided after March 2020 when the couple’s status changed. In June 2023, Harry broke royal protocol by criticising the UK government in his witness statement to a court.

His appearance marked the first time a member of the royal family had been cross-examined in court since Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, appeared as a witness in court in 1891. In his lawsuit, Harry sought damages in excess of £200,000 from the publisher of the News of the World and The Sun and alleged an earlier agreement between News Group Newspapers (NGN) and the royal family which would see he and William not take legal action in return for an apology had not been honoured. At the time of the announcement of Harry and Meghan’s decision to “step back” as senior members of the royal family in 2020, 95% of the couple’s income derived from the £2.3 million given to them annually by Harry’s father, Charles, as part of his income from the Duchy of Cornwall. In January 2020, the Duke and Duchess announced that they were stepping back from their role as senior members of the royal family, and would balance their time between the United Kingdom and North America. He adds in his memoir that he smoked cannabis at Eton and in Kensington Palace gardens, but he later told a court that “he never smoked in his father’s house”.
After several years of the Duke of Sussex’s campaigning — including a high-profile court battle which he lost — a full-scale review was granted in December. It follows a report that an official review has found that Harry, 41, meets the criteria for inclusion in the taxpayer-funded security cover. Insiders tell PEOPLE there are “positive” noises coming from the government regarding a reversal of the decision not to grant Harry security, and they are cautiously hopeful that the decision to upgrade his cover will go ahead.