Prince Harry’s court defeat is another embarrassment for the royals

Prince Harry’s failed High Court challenge against the government over his security protection heaps more embarrassment on the royals. The Duke of Sussex was told today that the decision to downgrade his security status following his departure from the royal family was legitimate. Once again, it means the Royals are in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

We are not yet three months into 2024, and this year shows every sign of being the worst in memory for the royal family. This is an impressive achievement, given that 2023 began with Prince Harry publishing an embarrassing tell-all memoir, rich in revelation about his family’s attitudes and antics. Yet this year has already seen the King having to step back from royal duties after a cancer diagnosis, Prince William being criticised for his unprecedented intervention in global politics, the continuing mystery as to the Princess of Wales’s health condition and whereabouts, and, yesterday, the ill-fated and deeply misguided decision to put the disgraced Duke of York front and centre at the memorial service for King Constantine of Greece.

You would not have known, looking at the pictures from the event, that Prince Andrew was a humiliated figure who had supposedly retired from royal duties.