It is hard to sympathise with Harry’s latest interview – yet he’s clearly deeply troubled

The Duke of Sussex lost his legal battle to be given state security but, Hugo Vickers argues, there is no reason he should have it, after he exiled himself from the royal family

Sir Geoffrey Vos’s judgment yesterday was delivered politely and calmly. Sir Geoffrey even recognised the concerns that Prince Harry believed he was facing.

It was no surprise that the judgment went the way it did: there is no reason why the British taxpayer should give Prince Harry security when he is contributing nothing to his country any more.

On the occasions in recent years that he has appeared in public – the Queen’s platinum jubilee and her funeral in 2022, he was perfectly well secured within the same security blanket given to the other members of the royal family and heads of state attending.

The Duke of Windsor was given no UK security after the abdication. He accepted that. And, incidentally, he was also dropped from the state prayers at the moment when arguably he needed them most.

Prince Harry wasted £1.5m in legal fees on his fight for security, which could have bought him a lot of personal security or benefited his children.

Then he gave one of those interviews that members of the royal family occasionally unwisely take part in. In it, he blamed everyone else but never himself.

Prince Harry says his father, King Charles, no longer speaks to him (BBC)

He talked about forgiveness. There are several things for which it is hard to forgive him. There is the deep distress that he caused his grandmother, the Queen, in the last months of her life, when, at the end of one of the most extraordinary reigns in history, she should have been sailing towards sunlit uplands.

Then in his book and his interviews, he hurled abuse at the King, Queen Camilla, the Princess of Wales, his brother and more besides. A lot of dirty laundry was aired in public.

He claims he wants to reconcile with his family, but then he muddies the water by claiming his father no longer speaks to him. If that is true, then it is most likely that the King, who has been unwell, does not feel up to facing a barrage of “me, me” complaints from his wayward son.

The King is a compassionate man who, even on Prince Harry’s (ghosted) word, begged his sons not to darken his later years with internecine family warfare.

The King has never responded to any of the barbs thrown at him from across the pond. He has left the door wide open. I doubt the King will appreciate an update on his health from this son, in a week when he spoke optimistically and openly about the effects of his cancer treatment.

Prince Harry created the Invictus Games to encourage wounded soldiers not to think of themselves as victims but to go out and achieve in the world and in sport – a wonderfully successful enterprise. Yet he has turned himself into the biggest victim of all time – “the Prince of Wails”, as he has now been dubbed.

He claimed he wanted privacy out of the spotlight, and yet he and his wife seek the cameras at every turn. He wants to protect his children, but his wife shows us clips of the back of their heads or the occasional soundbite along with “We love you, mummy” messages.

There is nothing to stop Prince Harry allowing them to see the King, or indeed their other rejected grandfather. One day, they will grow up and realise what their parents have denied them.

It is hard to be sympathetic to Prince Harry and yet he is clearly a deeply troubled person. Though he claims to love his Montecito existence, he must have bitter regrets. He looks miserable.

People are invariably happier doing their duty and putting things into life for the general good rather than taking things out. He was once Captain General of the Royal Marines, a hugely prestigious position. Instead, he is now seen lying barefoot in the park under a tree in California.

As a young working prince, he attracted crowds of admirers not dissimilar to Beatlemania. He played cricket and football with happy youngsters on his overseas visits. They loved him. The Queen gave him (and his wife) the Commonwealth to work with. Not enough for them. They threw it all away.

Now he is merely assigned the occasional walk-on part in his wife’s documentaries. No wonder he misses his country.