Prince Harry said that he “would love a reconciliation” with the Royal Family in an interview following his appeal Friday challenging the U.K. government’s decision to strip him of his publicly funded security.
The Duke of Sussex spoke with BBC News on May 2 after the Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that a committee hadn’t treated Harry unfairly when it decided to review his protection on a case-by-case basis each time he visits the U.K.
Harry, 40, told BBC News that “there’s no point in continuing to fight anymore” with his family.
“There have been so many disagreements between myself and some of my family,” he said, adding that he has now “forgiven” them.
“Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has,” he said, referencing King Charles III, who was diagnosed with cancer last year. “He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile.”
Harry also said his security issues “could be resolved” through his 76-year-old father.
“There is a lot of control and ability in my father’s hands,” Harry told the outlet.
“Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him. Not necessarily by intervening, but by stepping aside, allowing the experts to do what is necessary.”
Harry also revealed whether he’d ever return to the U.K. with his family, considering he lost the appeal and would have to ensure his own security, along with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their two young children.
“I can’t see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point,” he said.
“I love my country, I always have, despite what some people in that country have done … and I think that it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland.”
He said that his treatment during the process of deciding his security had “uncovered my worst fears.”
“I’m devastated — not so much as devastated with the loss that I am about the people behind the decision, feeling as though this is OK. Is it a win for them?” he asked. “I’m sure there are some people out there, probably most likely the people that wish me harm, [who] consider this a huge win.”
Friday’s ruling upheld a High Court judge’s decision last year that found a “bespoke” plan for the Duke of Sussex’s security wasn’t unlawful, irrational or unjustified.
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Harry made a rare appearance for the two-day hearing last month as his lawyer argued that his life was in danger from the security changes and the Royal and VIP Executive Committee had singled him out for inferior treatment.
“There is a person sitting behind me who is being told he is getting a special bespoke process when he knows and has experienced a process that is manifestly inferior in every respect,” lawyer Shaheed Fatima said. “His presence here and throughout this appeal is a potent illustration — were one needed — of how much this appeal means to him and his family.”
A lawyer for the government said that Harry’s argument repeated his misconceived approach that failed in the lower court.
“It involves a continued failure to see the wood for the trees, advancing propositions available only by reading small parts of the evidence, and now the judgment, out of context and ignoring the totality of the picture,” lawyer James Eadie said.
Harry and his wife had stepped back from their official roles in the family in 2020 because they didn’t feel they were “being protected by the institution,” his lawyer said.
After doing so, a Home Office committee ruled there was “no basis for publicly funded security support for the duke and duchess within Great Britain.”
Harry claimed that he and his family are endangered when visiting his homeland because of hostility aimed at him and Markle on social media and through relentless hounding by news media.
In recent months, Harry has been making headlines after the chairperson of an African charity he co-founded accused the royal of orchestrating a “harassment and bullying” campaign to try to force her out as she pushed back following his resignation from the organization in March.
Sophie Chandauka, the Sentebale chair, told Sky News that the Duke of Sussex unleashed “the Sussex (PR) machine” on her when he publicly resigned from the charity as a patron of Sentebale.
Harry co-founded the organization nearly 20 years ago with Prince Seeiso to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and Botswana.
“The only reason I’m here … is because at some point on Tuesday, Prince Harry authorized the release of a damaging piece of news to the outside world without informing me or my country directors, or my executive director,” Chandauka told the outlet.
“And can you imagine what that attack has done for me, on me and the 540 individuals in the Sentebale organizations and their family?” she said, adding, “That is an example of harassment and bullying at scale.”
The Duke of Sussex said the reason for his resignation was due to conflict between members of the board and Chandauka, who refused to step down and sued the charity in order to retain her position.
Seeiso and the board of trustees also joined Harry in leaving Sentebale following the breakdown of the relationship between board members and Chandauka.
Chandauka said she had reported Sentebale’s trustees to the Charity Commission, a government department in the U.K. that regulates philanthropic organizations, and had filed papers in a British court to prevent her removal.
In a statement, she made allegations of misconduct at the charity without naming anyone.
“There are people in this world who behave as though they are above the law and mistreat people, and then play the victim card and use the very press they disdain to harm people who have the courage to challenge their conduct,” Chandauka said.
In a joint statement on March 26, the princes said, “What’s transpired is unthinkable. We are in shock that we have to do this, but we have a continued responsibility to Sentebale’s beneficiaries, so we will be sharing all of our concerns with the Charity Commission as to how this came about.”
— With files from The Associated Press
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