After losing his legal appeal over royal protection, the Duke of Sussex spoke to BBC News in a recently aired interview. He expressed a mixture of sadness, urgency, and certainty regarding his future.

“I would love reconciliation with my family,” he said. “There’s no point continuing to fight anymore. As I said, life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has. You know, he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff. But it would be nice to reconcile.” He added, “If they don’t want that, that’s entirely up to them.”

The conversation took place soon after his plea to reverse the government’s decision to reduce his police protection while in Britain was denied by a U.K. court. According to Harry, the decision exposed him to “unjustified and inferior treatment”. On May 2, 2025, however, the Court of Appeal dismissed his claim and upheld the ruling.

During his conversation with BBC’s Neda Torfić, Harry said he was “Obviously, pretty gutted about the decision.” The prince, who is now 40, also said he is currently unable to return to the United Kingdom with his wife and children. “We thought it was going to go our way, but it certainly hasn’t,” he shared.

The Duke said he has only visited the United Kingdom for funerals, court appearances, and the occasional charity function. He lives in California with his wife, Meghan, and their kids, Archie and Lilibet.

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“I put myself at risk for that, but I will continue on with a life of public service,” he said. “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point. And the things that they’re going to miss is—well, everything. [sic]”

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Harry’s loss of security seems to be a major factor in the conflict between him and the royal institution. “Just because you spoke there about forgiveness—it sounds like the last step to repairing relations with your family is the security issue, by what you said there,” Torfić said.

One hundred percent,” said Harry. “Whatever noise has been created, whatever stories have been written—this has always been the sticking point.” He continued by describing how he was taken aback by the 2020 decision to revoke his protection.

“God forbid anything should happen. And I don’t regret that at all,” he said of his decision to step away from royal duties. “I thought with all the disagreements and all of the chaos that’s happening, the one thing that I could rely on is my family keeping me safe.”

But instead, he said, “Not only did they decide to remove my security in the U.K., but they also signaled to every single government around the world not to protect us.” Harry shared that the effect of the ruling is deeply personal.

Reflecting on the rift, Harry acknowledged that some wounds may never fully heal, saying, “Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course they will never forgive me for lots of things.” Still, he expressed, “It would be nice to reconcile.”