PRINCE Harry is “totally hypocritical” to claim he needs taxpayers’ cash to fund security in the UK – before swanning around in an active war zone, an expert claims.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, appeared in the High Court this week for an appeal hearing after a judge rejected the duke’s case against the Home Office.
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He alleges Britain is “unsafe” for his family to visit since Megxit – and they should be afforded the same security as the rest of the Royal Family free of charge.
However, just hours later, he was snapped in Ukraine meeting injured soldiers – with the country at war with invading Russia.
Royal author Phil Dampier told The Sun: “It’s extraordinary that Prince Harry spent two days in court arguing he needs police protection and his life is in danger without it, yet he happily flies to Ukraine where he could be bombed at any moment.
“As an ex serviceman himself he knows the dangers of being in war zones and he was happy to risk his life flying helicopters in Afghanistan.
“The idea his life is in danger in the UK when he has his own bodyguards is ridiculous.
“It’s totally hypocritical of him to claim he needs the British taxpayer to fund his protection and then fly off to Ukraine.”
Mr Dampier – who penned Royally Suited: Harry and Meghan In Their Own Word – went on to say: “He and Meghan made the decision to leave the royal family and become private citizens, so they could make a lot of money, and they can’t have it both ways.
“Harry argues that he won’t bring Meghan back to the UK without police protection but I think that’s just an excuse.
“She doesn’t want to come back here because she knows how deeply unpopular she is.
“If they come back for any big state event they would be protected under the general umbrella of royal security so it’s totally unnecessary for them to have their old status back.
“I would be astonished if he wins his appeal against the home office and the British public would rightly be up in arms if he does.”
Harry made the unannounced trip to Lviv on Thursday, as part of his ongoing work with wounded soldiers.
He went to the Superhuman Center, an orthopedic clinic that treats and rehabilitates wounded military personnel and civilians.
Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army, has worked tirelessly on providing support for injured veterans since founding the Invictus Games.
‘I’M VERY TORN’
Royal author Hugo Vickers said he was “torn” over whether the duke is a hypocrite for flying to the war ravaged country.
He told The Sun: “I always like rather like it when Prince Harry does the things for which he’s trained and which he’s good at.
“I’m very torn because if it does any good for Ukraine, then great.
“Going into groups of soldiers and talking to them and cheering them up… I think that’s rather commendable, but I entirely see the point that he comes to England to talk about security, and then he goes into a war zone.”
Mr Vickers continued: “You do also wonder every time he does anything now whether it’s being done for personal publicity.”
He said whenever a high profile figure, including politicians and statesmen, go into such situations “I imagine… they’re well protected” and he pointed out the visit wasn’t publicised until Harry left.
“But it’s a difficult issue… there are a lot of issues at stake here,” he added.
“You could argue that he’s not a working royal.. and he doesn’t have any military appointments anymore… he shouldn’t be doing sort of quasi royal visits.”
However, on the other hand, Mr Vickers said Harry was a soldier – and undertook two tours in Afghanistan – and visits like the one to Ukraine are a good use of his time.
“I prefer to see him doing those sort of things than wandering around in the background of Meghan Markle‘s cooking programme to give it sort of validity.”
Mr Vickers was referring to Harry making a surprise cameo in the final episode of the duchess’s Netflix show With Love Meghan earlier this year.
“He’s sort of almost masquerading as a working royal,” the author said of such appearances. “He can’t have it both ways.”
“I suppose one of the questions people will be asking is also, is this like a step towards coming back (as a working royal) at some point in the future?”
Mr Vickers said he is unsure the Ukraine trip was arranged in a bid to off-set the potential negativity of Harry’s court appeal.
“It’s more [for ease] to do the two visits at the same time,” he said.
“But, on the other hand, you know, yes, it’s hard with those two (Harry and Meghan) not to be suspicious.
“Everything they do is is [an attempt at] keeping them back in the news – a publicity stunt.”
He added: “They’ve taken this celebrity route, and they have to reinvent themselves, and they have to keep going and doing different things.”
Referring to Harry’s court appeal, Mr Vickers said: “He can’t ask for taxpayers to pay for his security whenever he comes to this country.
“He says that he wants his children to be able to be free to come here, and that he’s too scared to bring them without that. But I don’t really get it to be honest.”
The Sun has approached the Sussexes’ reps for comment.
Prince Harry’s Army career
Prince Harry entered RMAS in May 2005 to begin 44 weeks of Officer Cadet training, this was after passing his Regular Commissions Board (RCB), the qualification necessary to train at Sandhurst, in September 2004.
In January 2006, Clarence House announced he was to join the Blues and Royals, after which he was commissioned as an Army officer on 12 April that year.
The Duke of Sussex served in the Army for ten years, undertaking two tours of Afghanistan.
The father of two rose to the rank of Captain at the peak of his military career which began in 2004.
During his time serving, he qualified as an Apache Aircraft Commander.
In his memoir Spare he revealed he flew six missions during his second tour of duty which resulted in “the taking of human lives” of which he was neither proud nor ashamed.
His decision to leave the Army was confirmed in March 2015.
Prince Harry ended his military career at the rank of captain in June 2015, following a secondment to the Australian military.
General Sir Nicholas Carter, the then-Chief of the General Staff, said that Prince Harry had “achieved much in his 10 years as a soldier”.
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