Prince Harry to miss uncle Robert Fellowes' funeral in the UK amid security concerns
The Duke of Sussex will not be in attendance at his uncle Robert Fellowes' funeral amid security concerns, HELLO! understands.
Lord Fellowes, who died aged 82 on 29 July 2024, was married to Prince Harry's aunt and Diana, Princess of Wales's sister, Jane Fellowes. He also worked as a press secretary to the late Queen Elizabeth II for 13 years.
A private funeral will take place but since stepping back as senior working royals in 2020, Harry and his wife, Meghan, have only made a handful of visits to the UK.
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This is partly down to Harry not being provided with the same level of police protection given to the royal family when he stopped being a working royal and moved to the US.
His security is now decided on a case-by-case basis, in the same way as other high-profile visitors to the UK and under current conditions, the Duke must inform authorities about any plans to travel to the UK 28 days in advance.
It is not known whether the likes of the Prince and Princess of Wales or the King will attend the funeral.
Harry took legal action against the Home Office over the February 2020 decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
In a judgment in February, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the Duke's case and concluded Ravec's approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair.
However, it was reported in June that Harry has been given the green light to challenge Sir Peter's dismissal at the Court of Appeal, according to an order by Lord Justice Bean dated 23 May.
At a hearing last December, Harry's legal team read out an excerpt from an emotional written witness statement in which the Duke explained why he and Meghan felt they had to move to the US after stepping back from their royal duties.
Harry wrote: "It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020.
"The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the US. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.
"I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm's way too."
Harry maintained last month it was "still dangerous" for Meghan to return to the UK.
In the ITV documentary Tabloids On Trial, the Duke said: "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.
The Duke's last visit to the UK was in February following the news of his father the King's cancer diagnosis. Harry and Charles had a 45-minute meeting at Clarence House, before the monarch departed for Sandringham.
