Lorraine Kelly slammed Prince Harry after hearing of his protection plan for returning to the UK, telling viewers, "You can't hire Scotland Yard!"
Prince Harry, 37, offered to foot the bill to cover his security costs so the British taxpayer would not be paying for his family's security but has come under fire for his safety concerns if they were to return to the UK.
The Duke pays for his own security protection for his family in the US and is in a legal battle with the Home Office over their decision to not allow him to pay for police protection when they are in the UK.
Lorraine invited the Daily Mirror's royal editor Russell Myers onto her show to discuss Prince Harry's proposed plan.
Russell explained to ITV viewers: "It could potentially get very messy and people have told me within the royal circles that this is particularly misguided."
However, Lorraine erupted: "You can't hire Scotland Yard, you can't.
"But to be fair, he says he'll pay anything, it's not like he's asking the police or the Queen to pay."
Russell explained when Prince Charles was in a relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles he paid privately for his own security to look after her.
Lorraine added: "It just feels awful, could [Harry] not just have picked the phone up to his dad and said, 'Look you've not seen your granddaughter yet, but we want to fix it."
She said Charles could then have potentially offered a security contact to Harry who he could use during his next visit to the UK.
Lorraine asked whether Harry and Charles' relationship was "so bad" that they are unable to do that.
Russell replied: "If he is now saying the UK is not safe enough for his family to visit, where does that leave him with his relationship with his family?
"I would imagine it's not very much better than it was a few months ago."
Their debate came in the wake of Harry filing for a judicial review against a Home Office decision barring him from personally paying for police protection for himself and his family while visiting the UK.
A legal representative claims the duke alongside his wife Meghan, and two children, want to visit the UK but they are "unable to return to his home” because it is too dangerous for them.
Harry has argued his current private protection team at home in the US does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to UK intelligence information which is needed to keep his family safe from harm.
The former Royal says his concerns are from an incident in summer 2021 when the paparazzi compromised his security and chased Prince Harry after a charity event.
The Duke's legal representative said: “The UK will always be Prince Harry’s home and a country he wants his wife and children to be safe in.
“With the lack of police protection, comes too great a personal risk.”
A legal representative for the Duke of Sussex said: "Prince Harry inherited a security risk at birth, for life.
"He remains sixth in line to the throne, served two tours of combat duty in Afghanistan, and in recent years his family has been subjected to well-documented neo-Nazi and extremist threats.
"While his role within the Institution has changed, his profile as a member of the Royal Family has not. Nor has the threat to him and his family.
"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally fund a private security team for their family, yet that security cannot replicate the necessary police protection needed whilst in the UK. In the absence of such protection, Prince Harry and his family are unable to return to his home."
Lorraine continues weekdays from 9am on ITV.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly Showbiz newsletter here .
