The UK Prime Minister says that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s security arrangements on their return to Britain are a “private matter”.
Andy Burnham refused to be drawn on whether the couple would receive taxpayer-funded protection while in the country, after The Telegraph revealed that the Sussexes intend to move back to Britain from the US later this month.
Burnham said: “This is a private matter. It’s a matter for Harry and for Meghan. And we wish them well in the move that they’re making.”
The duke visited Britain last month for the one-year countdown to his Invictus Games event. However, his application for a security package for the visit had been denied.
The decision led a source close to the Sussexes to accuse the Home Office and the committee responsible for assessing their security of “wilfully creating conditions that are making it nearly impossible” for them to move around the country.
On a visit to a waste dump in West Yorkshire, Burnham was asked whether the Government was going to establish the couple’s security and pay for it.
However, he refused to be drawn on the subject, insisting that it was a “private matter”.
The Telegraph understands that the meaning of Burnham’s remarks was that the duke and duchess’ security was not a matter that should be discussed publicly. It is understood he was not making a judgment on who should be responsible for providing their security, which would be a matter for the Home Office and the committee responsible, and not the Prime Minister.
Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, the Sussexes’ children, are enrolled to start at a British school in September.
The King was told of the duke and duchess’ desire to return to Britain last weekend.
However, the King was also clear that their status as non-working royals and private individuals would remain unchanged, in keeping with their previously expressed wishes.
The duke and duchess announced that they were “stepping back” from senior royal duties in January 2020, which left the Queen and the royal household blindsided.
They moved to the US the following year after a 12-month review of their situation, with the late Queen confirming that the couple would not “continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service”.
The late monarch had made it clear that the duke and duchess could not maintain a “half-in, half-out” approach to royal duties while also pursuing commercial opportunities.
The Sussexes responded by saying: “We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.”
In May 2025, the duke lost a legal challenge against the Government over the level of security that he and his family were entitled to.
He had been seeking to overturn a decision that downgraded his security after he stopped being a working royal, with his lawyers claiming that he had received “inferior treatment” and been “singled out”.
However, a senior judge ruled that his “sense of grievance” over the decision about his security was not sufficient as grounds for an appeal.
The Telegraph later revealed that a known stalker came within feet of the Duke of Sussex on two separate occasions during one of his visits to the UK.
A member of the duke’s private staff recognised the woman, “body-blocking” her to ensure that she could not get any closer. There was no police presence at the event she attended.
The “bespoke” arrangement has so far resulted in the duke receiving minimal or no police protection on most visits. Should there be an incident away from royal grounds, his private protection team could only call 999 and hope for a swift response.
The final decision on any taxpayer-funded security received by the duke and duchess on their return to Britain will be made by a committee called Ravec.
The committee’s 10-strong membership includes representatives from the Home Office, the Royal Household and the Met.
The duke was stripped of his honorary military titles but has continued to support a handful of charities. The couple believe they have since proved that the “half-in, half-out” model does work.
After moving to the US, the duke and duchess made a series of incendiary allegations that shook the royal family to its core.
They suggested that senior members of the royal family were racist by asking questions about the colour of their unborn son’s skin. The Duchess of Sussex also revealed that she had had suicidal thoughts and had struggled with her mental health after joining the royal family.
In a 2019 television interview, she said that British friends had warned her before marrying Prince Harry that the tabloids would destroy her life, and she described the British way of dealing with emotions as “probably really damaging”.
In a 2022 magazine interview, she alleged that she would “never be able to do school pick-up and drop-off” in Britain “without it being a royal photo call”.
While the duke has started building bridges with his father, his relationship with his brother, Prince William, remains deeply fractured.
The pair are not thought to have spoken for years. Both the Prince and Princess of Wales are said to feel deeply betrayed by the revelations made in the Duke’s memoir, Spare, and in various television interviews.
However, Prince Harry has long made it clear that he misses the UK and is desperate for his children to experience British life and culture.
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