RICHARD EDEN: The Establishment ‘plot’ to return Harry and Meghan is gathering tempo. Today, I reveal new developments that’ll horrify anybody who loves the monarchy… and highly effective figures enjoying a key function

When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex abandoned royal duties five years ago to seek their fortune, they were stripped of their automatic right to police protection on return trips to Britain.

Why, after all, should hard-pressed British taxpayers foot an extremely expensive security bill for a super-rich couple who no longer live in this country?

Prince Harry refused to accept this and took unsuccessful legal action against His Majesty’s Government, claiming that correct procedure had not been followed.

Harry argued that an assessment of the risks they faced had not been carried out since 2020, before they quit Britain.

Sir Richard Mottram, chairman of the Home Office committee which decides who receives police protection, explained that there was no need for a new risk assessment because the process applied only to those who lived in Britain, not those who chose to move abroad.

This logic was accepted by the judges who rejected Harry’s appeal.

There has, however, been a very surprising piece of news this week: the committee which decides who receives police protection, and is overseen by the Home Office, has begun a new risk assessment of Harry’s security.

This follows a letter Harry wrote to Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, in September calling for a new threat assessment to be carried out. He even called on the Prime Minister to ‘step in’.

The decision to carry out a new risk assessment is all the more striking because the legal position, upheld by the Court of Appeal, has not changed: the process does not apply to Harry and Meghan because they live overseas.

Prince Harry took unsuccessful legal action against His Majesty’s Government to try and regain automatic right to police protection on return trips to Britain for him and his family

What has changed, I can reveal, is that the ‘Establishment plot’ which aims to restore the California-based couple to the affections of the British public is gathering pace and has powerful supporters.

The plot is known as ‘Project Thaw’ because the aim is to ‘warm up’ the duke’s and duchess’s frosty relationships with the rest of the Royal Family and with the British people.

As I wrote in September: ‘Worryingly, King Charles has been drawn into this, aided by some key figures of the Establishment behind the scenes.’

Those key figures include senior Government ministers such as David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, and Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, whose visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv coincided with Harry’s trip to the war-torn country in September. 

Ms Cooper is said to be among the Establishment figures who admire the duke and want him to play a bigger part in public life. She is married to Ed Balls, former Cabinet minister in the Blair administration and now a host of Good Morning Britain, the ‘woke’ ITV breakfast show from which Piers Morgan resigned after Meghan complained to his bosses about critical comments he made on the programme.

She is also said to be one of the senior Labour Party figures keen for Harry and Meghan to reconcile with the Royal Family. Many on the Left hailed the mixed-race American actress as a symbol of change in the Monarchy when she married Harry in 2018 – and still yearn for her return.

Harry’s trip to Kyiv followed his visit to Britain where he was invited to tea at Clarence House with his father, their first meeting in 19 months.

Harry told anti-monarchy newspaper The Guardian at the time that he hoped to return to Britain with Meghan and their children, Prince Archie, aged six, and Princess Lilibet, four.

Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, is said to be among the Establishment figures who admire the duke and want him to play a bigger part in public life

Harry leaves Clarence House in September, having just met with his father, the King, for the first time in 19 months

‘This week has definitely brought that closer,’ he claimed.

My sources say the new risk assessment could result in taxpayer-funded police protection being restored to the Sussexes. And the explanation will be that Harry and his family plan to spend much more time in Britain than previously.

As a friend of the duke’s told me in September: ‘Harry wants to educate the children here in the UK.’

The friend who discussed the subject with the duke during his visit to Britain that month, explained: ‘Harry feels his children are missing out on the extensive family network that their niece and nephews are enjoying.

‘Harry wants his children to have the very best education. He has retained his closest friendship group of confidants from his days at school at Ludgrove and Eton. He wants that for his own children.’

If the new risk assessment does result in police protection being restored to Harry and Meghan, there would be fury from taxpayers, I believe.

It would also be a highly dangerous move for the future of the Monarchy.

Just when Left-wing Labour MPs are rubbing their hands with glee at the review of Crown Estate properties and the favourable terms given to members of the Royal Family, Harry and Meghan would be free to come and go at leisure – at a considerable cost to the Exchequer.

This is something that the increasingly influential Republican Left would relish. It must not happen.