Home Secretary will NOT make decision on Sussexes' security amid bitter years-long feud over tax-funded police protection

"The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate," a spokesman said.

"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."

But it is understood that Ms Mahmood will not take part in any individual decision on the set-up.

Individual decisions on protective security for key public figures, including members of the Royal Family, are made by experts at Ravec (the Royal and VIP Executive Committee).

Its membership includes the Home Office, Metropolitan Police and Royal Household, who advise an independent chair on decision-making.

However, the Home Secretary does not contribute to individual Ravec decisions, and will not intervene despite Prince Harry's reported attempts to lobby her.

Harry has undergone a multi-year legal battle with the Home Office and Ravec after his tax-funded armed police protection was removed when he and his wife fled the UK in 2020.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will not make a decision on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's security arrangements

HOME OFFICE

He lost his long-running legal battle to have his UK police security reinstated last year when his case was defeated at the Court of Appeal.

Harry heavily criticised this, claiming the lack of security made the UK unsafe for his family.

He argued his children cannot "feel at home" in Britain if it is "not possible to keep them safe" there, and that he has been "singled out" for "inferior treatment" with his safety, security and even life "at stake".

Since then, the Prince has been waiting for a risk management board to decide what level of security he needs.

The Duke has now been waiting for more than seven months to find out that decision the outcome of that process, after which the findings will be presented to Ravec.

Harry lost his long-running legal battle to have his UK police security reinstated last year

PA

He, alongside Meghan and the couple's children Archie and Lilibet, visited Britain as a family for the first time in four years in July this year.

His team had put in a formal request for police security while in the UK, but this was denied in favour of a "case-by-case" protection model.

Sources at the time raged that he was distraught about the decision - which was finally made just days before the family was due to arrive.

But despite fears that Meghan and the children would be forced to avoid their trip, the four all managed to visit the UK in safety, and visited the King and Queen at Highgrove House on July 10.

However, the Duchess of Sussex was said to have expressed "a lot of sadness" and felt she could not attend public engagements with her husband on the trip.

A source told People magazine that there was "a lot of sadness" over how the week unfolded.

According to The Mirror, Harry will lobby the Home Secretary for security in the future, with sources suggesting he is looking to arrange further meetings with the King to allow him to spend more time with his grandchildren in the years ahead.