Could Harry’s security review signal a return to royal life for the Duke – and what about the Prince William factor? We take a closer look at what the latest move could mean for his future
10:38, 08 Dec 2025Updated 10:38, 08 Dec 2025
The Duke of Sussex’s security arrangements for his visits to the UK are reportedly undergoing a fresh review(Image: Getty Images)
Prince Harry has long fought for his security arrangements in the UK to be reviewed, claiming that his homeland is not ‘safe’ for his family to visit. Now it is being reported that the Home Office are taking a fresh look at his case – but what could that mean for Harry’s future within the royal family, and his hopes of a royal reunion?
Harry lost his automatic right to publicly-funded police security in the UK in February 2020, after he and his wife Meghan quit life as working royals and made a permanent move to America. Ever since that decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC), Harry’s security has been decided on a “case-by-case” basis, meaning he must give advance notice of his visits so a threat assessment can be made.
But Harry hasn’t been happy with that arrangement and has been involved in a lengthy legal battle against the UK government, arguing that he and his family face significant security threats and that the new arrangements are “unjustified and inferior”. However, his legal challenges have consistently been dismissed by the High Court and Court of Appeal, with judges ruling that RAVEC’s decision-making process was lawful.
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Prince Harry has argued the UK is not safe for his family to visit(Image: BACKGRID)
But, according to new reports, his security arrangements for his visits to the UK are undergoing a fresh review, with the Home Office initiating a new threat assessment. It marks the first such assessment since 2020, according to The Sun. The development follows a formal request made by Harry to home secretary Shabana Mahmood shortly after her appointment in September 2025.
A source close to the Duke confirmed in October that he had sought a risk assessment from Ravec, which operates under the Home Office’s scope. In response to the news, a Government spokesperson said: “The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. 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.” The latest reports have led to speculation about Harry’s future within the royal family. He has made no secret of his desire to reconcile with King Charles, and some commentators have speculated that the security review could be a sign that Harry is rejoining the royal family.
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Harry has blamed the Royal Household for influencing the decision to reduce his security(Image: BACKGRID)
But others have highlighted the fact that the issue of Harry’s security has long been a thorn in the King’s side. In May this year, after losing another legal challenge over his security in the UK, Harry admitted his father “won’t speak to me because of this security stuff”. The prince gave an extraordinary interview to BBC News in California after losing his appeal. Saying that he felt “let down”, he described his court defeat as a “good old fashioned establishment stitch up” and blamed the Royal Household for influencing the decision to reduce his security.
Asked whether he had asked the King to intervene in the dispute over security, Harry said: “I never asked him to intervene – I asked him to step out of the way and let the experts do their jobs.” He went on to say: “Everybody knew that they were putting us at risk in 2020 and they hoped that me knowing that risk would force us to come back. But then when you realise that didn’t work, do you not want to keep us safe? Whether you’re the government, the Royal Household, whether you’re my dad, my family – despite all of our differences, do you not want to just ensure our safety?” In response, Buckingham Palace said: “All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”
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Harry is said to be hopeful for a reconciliation with the King (Image: Getty Images)
Following the news in October that Harry had reached out to the Home Secretary on the issue, sources told the Sunday Times that the move “complicates things for the King,” and noted, “It’s not going to help matters. We’re back to where we were.” The insider further stated that “the King cannot and will not lobby” for Harry, adding, “If you put yourself in the mind of a father who is repeatedly told he should and could intervene, that is not very helpful, complicates matters and shows a lack of understanding about the reality of the situation.”
The King is said to have hopes for a reconciliation with Harry – but is said to be wary. A key area of concern for the royals is said to be trust. Harry has been accused of betraying his family by sharing many of their confidences, with fears that whatever Harry is told, ends up in the press. Ever since the Sussexes’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey, the hits have kept on coming – including Harry’s tell-all memoir Spare, the couple’s Netflix show, and more recently, his disastrous security court case loss and subsequent BBC interview in which he even publicly questioned how long his father had to live. Charles was said to have been especially upset by the cruel comments Harry has made about Queen Camilla.
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Prince William has taken a much firmer stance on the Sussexes(Image: / SplashNews.com)
And then there is the matter of Prince William. He is said to have taken a far firmer stance on the Sussexes, and has no interest in a reconciliation. Indeed, there are reports that he could strip the Harry and Meghan of their titles when he takes the throne. That’s unlikely, however, according to one royal expert. Rob Shutter has said William has no intention of doing that – not out of sentiment but because he allegedly believes their brand is already ‘worthless’ and that acting against them would look ‘petty’ and ‘vindictive’.
As revealed by an insider, “By the time William takes the throne, the Sussex brand will be so diminished it won’t even matter. Why take away something that’s already worthless?” According to Shutter, William also feels “ignoring them will hurt more”. He wrote, “William sees no strategic threat from Harry and Meghan anymore. The power they once had? The global fascination? The shiny-new-royal-rebels energy? Gone.”
The Mirror spoke to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams about what the future looks like for the Sussexes. He said: “When Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior working royals, they knew they would lose automatic police protection. It was clear after he lost his case at the Court of Appeal in May how strongly he still feels about security, as he gave an intemperate and highly erratic interview to the BBC of over half an hour. There are threats against him and his family and these are now being reassessed by Ravec, the Home Office Committee in charge of security. There is no doubt that he feels passionately about the need to have police protection for himself and his family, if and when they visit Britain and we know he wants to come here more frequently. It is currently decided on a case by case basis.”
Harry and Meghan quit royal life back in 2020(Image: zz/NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx)
Richard continued: “There have also been unconfirmed reports that, although we understand that the brothers have not spoken in over three years, William has softened his opposition to some form of reconciliation. Although the King has long been associated with the idea of a ‘slimmed down monarchy’, there are only four working royals under 70. The monarch is still battling cancer and Catherine is in remission. If the Sussexes had not stepped down, there would have been enormous opportunities to expand their roles.
“However, they chose California and what has been a struggle, especially this year, when Harry lost his Lesotho based charity Sentebale and this last week when he appeared more or less as an extra in Meghan’s cookery show With Love, Meghan and, bizarrely, on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show. What he does next for Netflix is also uncertain. It is, however, highly unlikely that any form of royal role will result even if his family get the security he wants. The royal family do not trust the Sussexes, they created their worldwide reputation by damaging attacks on it. Even after he saw the King during what was considered a successful visit in September which ended in Kyiv, he gave an interview to the Guardian which was ill-advised. If some form of part-time royal role was being considered, it would be bitterly opposed by the monarchy’s most loyal supporters.
“He and Meghan are highly unpopular in Britain according to the polls. Also, he and Meghan are at war with the British press which would also create serious problems. However the King hasn’t seen his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, since Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022 and obviously wants to see them again. This may also lead to royal representation at the Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027. Harry is an exile in California and wants to see more of the country of his birth, but security arrangements are pivotal in this.”