Harry accuses security body chair of not informing his staff of al Qaida threat

Britain’s Prince Harry has accused the chair of the body which authorises protection for senior British royals of not passing on information about a 2023 threat from al Qaida to his security staff or to the authorities in the United States.

Harry, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan, wrote to UK home secretary Shabana Mahmood this month asking her to take a personal role in determining if his family receive close police protection.

In the letter, his legal team is understood to have alleged the head of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) was aware of a threat made by al Qaida, but did not pass this to his security staff or to the authorities in the United States, where he was living at the time, The Sunday Times reported.

Individual decisions on protective security for key public figures, including members of the royal family, are made by Ravec, which includes the Home Office, Metropolitan Police and Royal Household, which advises an independent chairperson.

On Wednesday, Harry, Meghan Markle and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, returned to the UK to begin a new life after six years living in the US.

The family is said to be settling in the UK for an “extended period” of time amid speculation as to how long they will stay and where they will live, with the Cotswolds being suggested as the most likely destination.

Harry and Meghan, who are remaining as non-working royals, quit the monarchy six years ago, relocating to the US from where they criticised members of the royal family and the institution.

Harry and Meghan’s dramatic U-turn was revealed last week, but the pair have yet to speak publicly about their plans.

Many questions remain unanswered, including whether taxpayers will foot the bill for their security.

UK prime minister Andy Burnham would previously not be drawn on Harry and Meghan’s security arrangements in the UK, saying the funding for it was a “private matter”.

Harry previously insisted it was too dangerous to bring his wife and children to the UK with the security he was entitled to post-Megxit.

It is understood there have been at least six threats or plots concerning Harry from the Taliban, al Qaida or their supporters since 2007.

In late 2023, intelligence was passed to the FBI through Five Eyes – an intelligence-gathering alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US – about an al Qaida document referencing the “assassination” of Harry.

Also, in 2012, a Taliban spokesman announced an operation to kill or kidnap Harry and in 2010 there were threats to shoot down Harry’s Apache and capture him if he returned to Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, ITV reported that Harry was the focus of six terrorist plots, five of which originated in the UK, according to a security report.

The report, commissioned by Harry’s own private security firm, details dozens of threats and potential attacks facing Harry and Meghan, and was sent to Ravec.

A long-awaited risk assessment, carried out on the orders of Ravec, is said have taken place at the end of July, but Harry reportedly does not know the result.

It comes after he lost a legal battle against the Home Office over the security arrangements for him and his family while in the UK, after his level of protection changed when he stopped being a working royal.

A summary of some of the evidence that was heard in private during Harry’s appeal case in 2025 revealed that he had made a request for protection following a threat from terrorists.

“The appellant confirmed that he had requested certain protection after a threat was made against him by al Qaida,” the document says.

Harry has previously said he faces a greater risk than his late mother, with “additional layers of racism and extremism”.

He believes his family faces an “international threat” and has already highlighted that al Qaida had called for him to be killed.

In written submissions as part of Harry’s appeal, parts of which were redacted for confidentiality reasons, Shaheed Fatima KC, for Harry, said Ravec ruled in 2020 that “there is no basis for publicly-funded security support for the duke and duchess within Great Britain”.

After the decision, al Qaida called for Harry “to be murdered” and his security team was informed that the terrorist group had published a document which said his “assassination would please the Muslim community”, Fatima said.