LONDON (AP) 鈥 Prince Harry鈥檚 fight for police protection in the U.K. received another setback on Monday, when a judge rejected his request to appeal an earlier ruling upholding a government panel鈥檚 decision to limit his access to publicly funded security after giving up his status as a working member of the royal family.
The long-running legal battle began more than four years ago when Harry challenged the panel鈥檚 decision, arguing that he and his family still needed an armed security detail because of hostility directed toward him and his wife on social media and relentless hounding by the news media.
But High Court Judge Peter Lane ruled in February that the panel鈥檚 decision, which provides for 鈥渂espoke鈥 security on an as-needed basis, wasn鈥檛 unlawful, irrational or unjustified.
鈥淚nsofar as the case-by-case approach may otherwise have caused difficulties, they have not been shown to be such as to overcome the high hurdle so as to render the decision-making irrational,鈥 Lane wrote in his 51-page ruling.
In most cases, U.K. plaintiffs don鈥檛 have an automatic right to appeal and they must seek permission from the original court before doing so.
The High Court said Monday it had rejected Harry鈥檚 initial bid for permission to appeal. However, he can now seek permission directly from the Court of Appeal.
