Though Prince Harry has returned to the U.K. twice since moving abroad in 2020, his family—Meghan Markle and the couple's two children, Archie and Lilibet—have remained in the United States. The Duke of Sussex feels it's not safe to bring his wife and young children to his home country without police protection.

On Friday (February 18), lawyers went to court on behalf of the royal to fight the U.K. government’s decision to bar Prince Harry from personally paying for police protection when he visits Britain. During his time as a senior member of the royal family, Prince Harry was given taxpayer-funded police protection while out in public. Since stepping down from his official role, he will no longer be granted that same protection when visiting the U.K. He requested the ability to fund the protection himself, however, his request was denied.

“It goes without saying that he does want to come back to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart. Most of all, this is and always will be, his home,” his lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, said in court.

Robert Palmer, the lawyer representing the British government, hit back, claiming Prince Harry's request is “unarguable and unmeritorious." Palmer went on to add that “personal protective security by the police is not available on a privately financed basis.”

“Harry has his heart set on returning to the U.K. to see the queen with Meghan, Archie, and Lilibet, but that will only happen if the government takes the appropriate measures to protect his family,” an insider previously explained to Us Weekly. “He refuses to put them at risk. Their safety comes before anything else.”

“Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life. He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats,” a legal spokesperson for Prince Harry said earlier this month. “While his role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the royal family has not. Nor has the threat to him and his family.”

Though he's able to fund his own personal security team in California, he believes that won't be enough to adequately protect his family in the U.K. “That security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the UK,” a statement about the legal situation explained. “In absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return home.”

Despite being unable to travel back to London at the moment, Prince Harry is reportedly determined for Archie and Lilibet to have a relationship with their cousins, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. “Harry and Meghan are doing everything they can to make the world a better place and feel it would be wrong to rob their children of the opportunity of getting to know their cousins,” the insider shared “It’s obviously difficult because of the distance factor, so Harry sweetly organized a special Zoom call with Prince William so that the cousins could get to see each other.”