Prince Harry is facing renewed scrutiny over his UK security arrangements as his plans to bring Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to the UK have reportedly been disrupted.
The decision of the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, known as Rave, which was reportedly communicated late on Friday, is said to have left the Duke of Sussex deeply distressed.
Royal commentator Robert Jobson has shared his assessment of the security controversy linked to Prince Harry's proposed visit to Britain.
He told Newsweek, "Every time Harry comes to town the briefings contradict each other. One voice calls it a peace mission. Another calls it a trap. They cannot all be true. That noise is the sound of a divided crown."
The biographer acknowledged Harry’s motivations were genuine, saying, "Harry's heart was in the right place. He wanted to bring his children to get to know their grandfather, now they are old enough to remember it."
Jobson continued, "King Charles asked him, long before he left, whether he had thought it through. Harry believed protection would follow as a matter of course. It did not. The obstacles in his path now flow from the deal he chose in 2020."
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle visit to UK with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's plans to bring Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to the UK have reportedly been disrupted after the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) declined to provide taxpayer-funded police protection.
The decision, which was reportedly communicated late on Friday, is said to have left Harry deeply distressed.
Prince Harry's long-awaited security review halted before UK visit
Harry was informed last November that a new Risk Management Board assessment—his first since 2019—would be carried out.
However, after submitting his own risk evaluation, he was told on Friday that the review had been suspended indefinitely, before learning no protection would be provided for the planned visit.
Prince Harry’s spokesperson on UK visit disruption
Prince Harry’s spokesperson said the visit remains on track, stressing that the issue is security—not accommodation—and that Harry is exploring "every available option" to ensure the trip can go ahead safely.
In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Monday, June 29, the spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex said, "Prince Harry's programme in the United Kingdom includes both public and private engagements across the country. Safe accommodation is only one element of an effective protective security plan because risk follows the person, not the place."
"The issue has never been accommodation," the spokesperson continued.
They added, "The issue is whether appropriate and proportionate protective security is being provided throughout the entirety of the visit. The independent Risk Management Board that RAVEC itself decided was necessary last November has still not taken place. It is therefore difficult to understand how the proportionality of the current arrangements can credibly be maintained without that independent assessment."
"The Duke continues to explore every available option to enable the visit to proceed safely and to give his children the opportunity to enjoy the U.K.," the spokesperson noted.
Prince Harry's UK visit
The trip would mark the family's first joint UK visit since Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in 2022 and kick off the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham, with Harry and Meghan set to visit the NEC.
