Prince Harry Shunned Queen Elizabeth’s Good Example

Prince Harry “raised concerns” over taking public transport to a charity event in Britain in 2022 because it would bring him in close proximity to the public—a direct contrast to an example set by his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, according to Newsweek‘s chief royal correspondent Jack Royston.

In a judgment handed down to a London court on February 28, a number of letters and details relating to Harry’s concerns over security (with redacted information) were revealed, as part of the prince’s legal fight with the government over having his full-time state funded bodyguards removed in 2020.

Harry argued that the government body responsible for making the decision did so illegally by not following their own due process. Judge Sir Peter Lane ruled that this was not the case and that their decision had legal standing. Harry’s lawyers have since said they will appeal the ruling.

In his ruling, the judge referenced concerns raised by Harry in September 2022, when he was visiting Britain with Meghan Markle to attend a series of charity events, one of which would necessitate their travel from London to Manchester.

“In connection with the charitable event attended by the claimant in Manchester on 5 September 2022, [redacted text],” the judgment read. “The claimant raised concerns with [redacted text] about his travel by train to Manchester because of his proximity to the public. [redacted text].”

This concern about public contact through train travel contrasts the example set by the late queen, who regularly took train journeys where other modes of transport may have been more secure and more convenient.

Discussing the topic with TalkTV royal editor Sarah Hewson, Royston said that the comparison between the private prince and his grandmother was “difficult.”

“The queen used to get the train up to Kings Lynn to go to Sandringham every every winter, every December and, you know, she could very easily have made other arrangements; taxi, helicopter or whatever,” Royston said. “But she made sure that she always showed the public that she wasn’t afraid to be around them.”

For security-conscious Harry, this shows his “hardline” approach to the public, Royston suggested.

“I think that Harry takes a very hardline to this issue of security, that if he has the police officers with him, he is protected. If they’re not with him, then he isn’t and he’s in danger and he could lose his life,” he said.

“I wonder if he might be slightly too binary and too hardline about that. It’s resulted in situations like for example the Platinum Jubilee…If they have an invitation from the royal family to an official event, then they get offered police protection, so they had the police protection only for the Platinum Jubilee events that they were invited to and as a result, outside of those events they didn’t leave Frogmore Cottage.

“And I just think that that might be too hardline,” Royston said.

Harry and Meghan did travel by train from London to Manchester on September 5, 2022, where they attended the One Young World Summit at which Meghan gave a keynote address.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

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