Prince Harry was bustled out of court by his bodyguards in London on Wednesday after a superfan created a disturbance and began yelling her support for him from the public gallery.
Harry is in the Court of Appeal arguing that he should be entitled to high-level, automatic security from the police when in the U.K., and the woman’s outburst will be seen by his supporters as providing a graphic example of the potential threats he faces.
The supporter was described by the Daily Mail as “a diminutive, shaven-headed woman who looked in her 50s” and the newspaper said she “had attracted attention after arriving late to the public gallery, and repeatedly shifting in her seat and fiddling and fidgeting with two phones and a notebook.”
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The newspaper said that Harry’s private bodyguards had appeared to take particular note of the woman before her outburst, which saw her shout, “I support you Prince Harry,” as Harry passed her while leaving the court room for a break.
The woman then reportedly turned to the press gallery and chided them, saying: “If you’re members of the press, you’re the reason he’s not in England.”
The woman was then led out of the building by court security. After she had been removed, Harry returned to the court room for a further session.
Harry is suing the British government over a decision to withdraw automatic security for him and his family when in the U.K. He appeared frustrated by the second day of proceedings today, at one stage angrily throwing his pen down and at another passing hand-written notes to his barrister.
Harry has claimed he has been unfairly given “inferior treatment” by the government’s decision to alter his protection level in the U.K. after he stepped down as a full-time royal and emigrated to America.
He now receives a “bespoke” package, but has to give 28 days notice of plans to travel to the U.K. to avail of it.
Meghan is understood to be reluctant for her or her children to come to the U.K. without full protection.
Harry’s team have told the Daily Beast that he thinks the king could easily order Harry’s security package to be restored.
Sources on the king’s side have said he is unwilling to meet Harry in person until the matter is settled, in case Harry alleged he said something about the issue, and his alleged words were repeated in court, creating a legal and constitutional headache.
Senior aides to both Prince William, who has made little effort to hide his contempt for Harry, and the king are involved in the decision making.
In a TV interview last year, Harry said of his security: “It’s still dangerous, and all it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read and whether it’s a knife or acid, whatever it is, and these are things that are of genuine concern for me… It’s one of the reasons why I won’t bring my wife back to this country.”
