Former Scotland Yard chief brands Prince Harry’s claim that his police protection was withdrawn to keep him and Meghan in the UK a ‘complete nonsense’

Prince Harry faced fierce criticism last night over his ‘bizarre’ new claim that his police protection was withdrawn to stop him and wife Meghan leaving Britain to live abroad.

He said learning that the couple’s taxpayer-funded security was being removed in 2020 was ‘difficult to swallow’.

But senior police and Home Office officials said his latest intervention made no sense, with one former Scotland Yard chief calling it ‘complete nonsense’.

A source close to Priti Patel, who was Home Secretary in 2020, said that the decision to scale back his security ‘was a professional one’ taken by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, known as Ravec, after the couple quit as working royals.

‘It would be beneath [the Queen] not to allow Ravec to do their job professionally, or make leanings against them,’ the source told The Mail on Sunday.

Harry was in the UK last week to attend a two-day appeal hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice, challenging the Ravec decision, which has been suggested is at the centre of his rift with King Charles.

Speaking as he left court, Harry said: ‘We were trying to create this happy house.’

Prince Harry faced fierce criticism last night over his ‘bizarre’ new claim that his police protection was withdrawn to stop him and wife Meghan leaving Britain to live abroad (pictured outside the High Court on Tuesday)

Senior police and Home Office officials said Prince Harry’s latest intervention made no sense, with one former Scotland Yard chief calling it ‘complete nonsense’

The duke and duchess reportedly believed that establishing a happy life of their own would help thaw relations with the Royal Family.

The couple saw the removal of their police protection as a way of trying to strong-arm them into returning to the UK since they felt that without security, visiting Britain would mean they had a target on their back.

But Dai Davies, former head of Scotland Yard’s Royal Protection said the Duke of Sussex was ‘talking complete nonsense’. He said Harry and Meghan’s ‘security arrangements in the UK are considered on a case-by-case basis.

‘He is given a liaison officer who has access to the most up to date intelligence reports. This person will deal with Harry’s own security people who are extremely capable. The idea that he needs 24/7 armed protection is ridiculous – so too is the idea that Britain is unsafe for him. This new argument that he is advancing is frankly bizarre. It was a Ravec decision, pure and simple – nothing to do with the Royal Family’

Home Office sources involved in the 2020 decision insisted neither Harry not his lawyers claimed at the time that his security was taken away to ‘trap’ him and his wife in the Royal Family

One highly placed source told The MoS: ‘This is a new argument, and we don’t recall Prince Harry or his lawyers making that argument at the time. ‘Remember, the decision to scale back security was discussed at the time with Harry and his lawyers, but nothing like that was said.’

The source added: ‘Ravec would have made all the assessments, and the decision to scale it back would have been their professional decision. Ravec would have consulted the head of the Royal Family about these changes at the time, who would have been the Queen. ‘She would not have got involved. This is an unusual thing for Prince Harry to say now.’

Harry and Meghan reportedly believe that their police protection when in the UK was withdrawn as a way of trying to ‘trap’ them in the UK 

Dai Davies, former head of Scotland Yard’s Royal Protection said Harry and Meghan’s ‘security arrangements in the UK are considered on a case-by-case basis

Speaking to The Telegraph on Friday, Harry said there was a lot of mistreatment he was able to forgive but what he had experienced during the legal process had crossed a line and he suggested he was upset with elements of the evidence heard behind closed doors this week in court.

He said: ‘People would be shocked by what’s being held back.’ He added that his ‘worst fears have been confirmed by the whole legal disclosure in this case and that’s really sad’.

As legal proceedings came to a close, Harry said he was ‘exhausted’ and ‘overwhelmed’ by the legal case.

But one royal insider said Harry seemed ‘unable to make up his mind’ adding that having previously said quit Britain because his family were not being protected, now ‘he is saying that withdrawing their security was actually a ploy by the Royal Family to make them stay. Which is it?’

Even if he wins the appeal, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) may not be compelled to grant the Sussexes their wish to restore their security.

Harry has been accused of hypocrisy after he met dozens of wounded soldiers in Ukraine last week despite claiming he and his family cannot be safe in Britain without taxpayer-funded police bodyguards.