Former police chief brands Prince Harry's claim removal of police protection was plot to 'trap' him 'complete nonsense'
13 April 2025, 09:16 | Updated: 14 April 2025, 10:22
A former Scotland Yard chief has branded Prince Harry's claim surrounding the removal of police protection "complete nonsense" after the royal said it was part of a plot to 'trap' him.
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Prince Harry claimed this week that the removal of his and Meghan's police protection was a plot to 'trap' them in the royal family.
Harry said his "worst fears have been confirmed" by secret evidence heard in a new court case.
He added that the couple's taxpayer-funded security being removed was "difficult to swallow".
However, a source close to Priti Patel, who was Home Secretary at the time of the decision, has insisted the decision was "a professional one".
Now, Dai Davies, the former head of Scotland Yard's Royal Protection, has now said the Duke of Sussex was "talking complete nonsense".
He added the royal couple'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," he told the Mail Online.
"The idea that he needs 24/7 armed protection is ridiculous - so too is the idea that Britain is unsafe for him.
Adding: "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"
The decision, taken by the Royal and VIP Executive Committee - known as Ravec - decided to revoke security for the royal following his decision to step back from royal duties.
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"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.
It comes as he is challenging the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of protection when in the UK.
He said it was "difficult to swallow" being told his and Meghan's security was being removed.
The duke previously hinted that the decision was at the heart of the rift between him and the King.
Speaking as he left the Royal Courts of Justice following a two-day appeal hearing, he told the Telegraph: "We were trying to create this happy house."
He said he believed his taxpayer-funded security was removed in a bid to force him and Meghan to stay in Britain after they announced that they were stepping down from royal duties and moving to the US.
As a result, he decided to sue the government to get the protection reinstated, he told the paper.
"People would be shocked by what’s being held back," he said.
He added that his "worst fears have been confirmed by the whole legal disclosure in this case and that’s really sad".
Following the hearing, Harry said he was "exhausted" and "overwhelmed" by the process, which has been ongoing for years.
He said he was driven by "exposing injustice" and that he is determined to "get under the bonnet and fix it".
During the second day of the hearing this week, Harry said is life was at stake.
He claimed to have been "singled out" following Megxit.
The duke's lawyer, Shaheed Fatima KC, told the court in a closing statement: "There is a person sitting behind me whose safety, whose security and whose life is at stake.
"There is a person sitting behind me who’s being told that he is getting a special and bespoke process when he knows and has experienced a process that is manifestly inferior in every respect."
She added: "We say that his presence here and through this appeal is a potent illustration, were one needed, about how much this appeal means to him and family."
The appeal decision is expected after Easter.
