The Duke of Sussex has seemingly achieved a breakthrough concerning his police security arrangements in the UK, following a recent Home Office review.

Prince Harry expressed his anger when the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) withdrew his 24-hour armed security in 2020 after he relinquished his duties as a working royal.

However, it appears that the Home Office has initiated a new evaluation of the threats facing the Duke—the first such assessment in five years, according to a report by The Sun.

In a heated BBC interview back in May, following his unsuccessful court appeal to reinstate his continuous security, Harry alleged ‘interference’ from the Royal Household in the 2020 decision. He asserted that this interference abruptly shifted his security status from being the most at-risk royal to one of the least threatened.

When questioned about the specific aspects of his current security that caused him to feel vulnerable, the Duke simply responded: ‘Everything.’

Blaming a ‘good old-fashioned establishment stitch-up’, the Prince concluded that ‘the other side have won in keeping me unsafe’. 

Harry, Meghan Markle and their children currently live in California where their annual security bill reportedly runs to millions of dollars. 

But the potential restoration of his security detail could pave the way for Harry and Meghan to spend more time in the UK. 

The Duke of Sussex, pictured in London in April, has reportedly won the right to a Home Office review of his police security detail when visiting the UK

Harry said in the bombshell sit-down interview earlier this year that it would be ‘impossible’ to bring Meghan and his children back to the UK after losing a legal challenge over the withdrawal of his security detail.

The Prince said that he still loved the UK ‘despite what some people in that country have done’ and added that it was ‘really quite sad that I won’t be able to show my children my homeland’.

However, the restoration of Harry’s 24-hour armed police protection could encourage Harry to bring his children Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, across the pond.

That could allow them to spend some time with their grandfather, King Charles, who has not seen them since Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022. 

While the Home Office routinely do not comment on high-profile individuals’ security details, it is rumoured that the process is already advanced.

Statements are reported to have been taken from police, government officials and Harry’s team. 

The latter are expected to mount a robust case for having his 24-hour armed security restored, with Harry having reportedly written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood asking for a risk reassessment after she took over the role. 

Sources suggest a decision by RAVEC – the body that decides which royals and public figures get official, taxpayer-funded protective security – could be made as early as next month. 

If the Prince’s security detail is fully restored, then the expense would be covered by taxpayers whenever the Prince is on British soil.  

At present Harry is required to inform the Met Police 30 days prior to arriving in the UK, with each visit reviewed on a case-by-case basis.  

However, back in September the Mail on Sunday reported that the Metropolitan Police voluntarily provided personal security to Prince Harry for his visit to London that month.

The restoration of Harry’s round-the-clock armed police protection could encourage him to bring his children Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, (pictured volunteering with their parents during Thanksgiving last month) across the pond to spend some time with their grandfather, King Charles – who has reportedly not seen them since Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022

The Duke lost a bitter legal battle against the Home Office in May over whether he was still entitled to taxpayer-funded police protection after stepping down as a working royal, it is understood that senior Met officers ‘acted on their own initiative’ to offer him protection while he was in the capital for the WellChild Awards.

Sources say officers contacted Harry’s representatives ahead of his arrival for the high-profile ceremony on September 8 to offer him protection for that day.

It is understood that the Met’s decision was made without the involvement of either the Home Office or the Royal Family and was instead based on the highly-publicised nature of the event and the fact that many children would be present.

Harry also found time to see his father the King for the first time in 19 months during his solo trip to the UK that month.

However, a stalker fixated with the Prince was reportedly twice able to pass within feet of him during his visit. 

On September 9, the woman was allowed to enter a ‘secure zone’ at a hotel in central London where the Duke of Sussex was present. 

Then two days later she was intercepted by a member of Harry’s private staff at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies in west London, at which there was no police presence. 

A Home Office 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 Duke of Sussex’s representatives declined to comment.