Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex were “forced” to step back from royal family duties, a British court has heard.

The 40-year-old Duke of Sussex made the claim as he challenged a High Court decision from 2024 that dismissed his case against the Home Office and the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec).

He has now launched a fresh legal battle at the Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn that ruling by arguing his security arrangements were unjustly downgraded after he stepped down as a working royal in 2020 with his wife Meghan, 43.

A two-day hearing in London that started on Tuesday marks the latest development in a long-running legal dispute over whether Harry should continue to receive state-funded police protection when visiting Britain.

Harry, the younger son of the King, was not required in court for teh two-day hearing. He reportedly flew into Britain from his home in California on Monday, and arrived smiling and waving at court on Tuesday.

His case stems from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to leave their roles as senior royals — a move commonly referred to as “Megxit”.

Harry’s barrister, Shaheed Fatima KC, told the court the couple felt they had no choice.

“On 8 January 2020, [Harry] and his wife felt forced to step back from the role of full-time official working members of the royal family as they considered they were not being protected by the institution, but they wished to continue their duties in support of the late Queen as privately funded members of the royal family,” she said in written submissions.

Fatima argued Ravec had adopted a “bespoke” process in reviewing Harry’s protection — a procedure she claimed was not used for any other individual.

“The appellant’s case is not that he should automatically be entitled to the same protection as he was previously given when he was a working member of the royal family,” she said.

“The appellant’s case is that he should be considered under the terms of reference and subject to the same process as any other individual being considered for protective security by Ravec, unless there is a cogent reason to the contrary.”

Fatima also said Ravec’s failure to conduct a Risk Management Board (RMB) assessment may have led to a flawed decision.

Court documents submitted by the prince’s legal team highlighted threats against him, including a call by Al-Qaeda for Harry “to be murdered” after his security status was changed in February 2020. It also followed revelations in Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare that he killed 25 members of the Taliban while serving in Afghanistan, and that he viewed them as “chess pieces taken off the board”.

Other court documents referenced a 2023 incident in New York, in which Harry and Meghan, 43, were involved in a high-speed car chase with paparazzi.

-with AAP