Prince Harry is under threat from six terrorist plots, five of which originated in the UK, according to a highly sensitive security report seen by ITV News.
The revelations come as the Duke of Sussex is preparing to travel to the UK, and has still not decided whether to bring his family to his home country, which he considers is unsafe.
The report details dozens of threats and potential attacks facing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and includes an al-Qaeda document which called for the assassination of Prince Harry.
The document was submitted to the UK security committee tasked with deciding whether Harry should get state-funded protection when he travels in the UK.
The whereabouts of four of the convicted individuals associated with the terrorist threats against Harry are currently unknown to the private security firm employed by the Sussexes.
The confidential risk assessment was prepared for the prince in February, and was sent to the RAVEC Committee – it decides which high-profile politicians and members of the Royal Family get police protection paid by the Home Office.
A copy of the report, which has been obtained by ITV News, found that there are “at least six plots against The Duke from jihadist and right-wing threat actors that have targeted other high-profile Britons”.
The US-based security firm employed by Harry and Meghan highlighted that “the highest priority threat” to the Sussex family “comes from stochastic terrorism (also known as grassroots or lone actor terrorism)”.
The “Threat and Vulnerability Risk Assessment” marked “Confidential” reports that the UK’s Metropolitan are aware of nearly 500 potential stalkers targeting the Royal Family, of which half have demonstrated a threat against Prince Harry, Meghan and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Despite Harry and his children being fifth, sixth and seventh in line to the throne, he had his automatic royal protection removed in 2020.
Harry claims he was promised a review each year, known as a Risk Management Board, but none has taken place since the Duke and Duchess moved to California six years ago.
Senior staff close to the prince insist they had been promised a new Risk Management Board before Harry’s planned visit to the UK next week.
He’s travelling to his home country for a series of events, including marking the ‘one year to go’ until his Invictus Games in Birmingham in July 2027, and had already announced he would travel with Meghan and their children on the basis that a review of their security arrangements would be carried out.
But Harry’s office says they received a letter at the end of last week saying they could have the phone number of a police liaison officer during the visit, but nothing more.
Harry’s security company does provide personnel to accompany him when he travels overseas, but their report acknowledges that the protection team cannot carry guns on UK soil and concludes that “UK authorities are much better positioned to provide him with more comprehensive protection”.
Without being able to carry “lethal weapons”, it concludes, Harry’s private protection officers are prevented from “adequately responding to an armed attack from a terrorist, criminal, or mentally unstable actor. Only UK police, with authorisation from RAVEC, can carry lethal weapons while protecting The Duke”.
Its assessment is that “the only way to mitigate residual risks to The Duke is to provide him with state-backed security”.
The document notes that, despite quitting his role as a working member of the Royal Family, Harry “is still The King’s son and remains a symbol of the crown”.
It adds: “Extremists with grievances against Great Britain – including jihadists or others that oppose the Commonwealth – pose a considerable threat and do not take his specific role into account.
“The Duke has been the target of specific jihadist threats ever since serving in Afghanistan in 2007/2008.”
In 2023, the FBI informed Prince Harry’s security team that it had received intelligence from overseas that senior leaders in al-Qaeda had published a document on a closed channel on the Telegram messaging service specifically referencing the “assassination” of the Duke of Sussex.
The document, which came to the FBI from another intelligence agency had called on “followers living in the West to kill air force personnel who had operated in Afghanistan, or are supporting Israel, and that have killed Muslims”.
It was in this context that Harry’s name was mentioned, as he has served in Afghanistan on two tours of duty with the British Army.
Other threats listed included a May 2023 attempt to access Harry and Meghan’s home in Montecito by a man carrying a hammer and duct tape.
It also documents how “fixated individuals” have threatened Harry’s safety, referring to how, in January of this year, a woman, known to the Met’s Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, twice gained access to the courtroom in London’s High Court when the Duke was giving evidence in person.
His private security firm also says it is tracking 28 people who have demonstrated “dangerous stalking behaviour” targeting the Sussex family.
And it clearly states that the safety risk to Harry and Meghan is much more “elevated” in the UK “where a majority of the most serious threats have originated”.
Harry’s lack of state-funded protection means anyone wanting to make an attack against the British Royal Family “could conclude that The Duke is the most vulnerable member of The Family”, says the report.
Whilst the Home Office and Buckingham Palace say the decisions on Harry’s security are a matter solely for the security professionals on the RAVEC Committee, those close to Prince Harry point to how the nine-member committee contains three staff from King Charles’ and Prince William’s office.
Harry has always suspected senior courtiers around his father and brother do not want him to have state-funded security.
King Charles, who is in Scotland this week, has not seen his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, since 2022, but Buckingham Palace says all issues of security are a matter for the Home Office and the King cannot get involved.
The Home Office said its protective security system is “rigorous and proportionate” – but would not give details about individual arrangements.
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