Prince Harry has "overplayed" his hand in his security row and taking legal action is "unwise", his former police protection officer has warned.
The Duke of Sussex began a legal challenge against the Home Office after his taxpayer-funded security was stripped in 2020 when he stepped down as a working royal and moved to California. He previously said it was unsafe for him to visit the UK and bring his wife Meghan Markle and children Archie and Lilibet without protection provided by the police. Last week it emerged that a second lawsuit has now been filed by Harry at the High Court with the Home Office and also the Metropolitan Police as defendants.
It is understood it focuses on the decision from earlier this year that people should not be able to privately pay for police protection.
The new claim comes just weeks after Harry won the latest stage of his court fight in his initial claim against the Home Office in the High Court over his security arrangements. The ruling means he will now be able to take the case for a judicial review.
But Ken Wharfe, a former police protection officer who worked with Harry, the late Princess Diana and Prince William, believes it would never have been the case that Harry and his family would have been left with no assistance whatsoever when visiting the UK.
Speaking on an upcoming episode of the Mirror's Pod Save the Queen podcast, he said the security row was "interesting".
He added: "I don't know who he advised him to take legal action against the British government and the Metropolitan Police. I think it was an unwise thing to do because that in essence raises negative publicity.
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"He is a prince of the realm, you can't change that, he will be Prince Harry for the rest of his life unless he decides to change that. Despite the fact he is living in California, nobody is barring him from the United Kingdon - of course not.
"Had he decided to come, which he did do of course to see the Queen and also transited on to the Invictus Games in Holland, rather than make a noise about how he wants the full package, the British Government and the Metropolitan Police would, of course, provide some sort of liaison to work with his own security, albeit private because that would be necessary.
"So with that, I can't see why he was insistent that he had this full package and a team from Scotland Yard - in essence, he wasn't really entitled to it being a non-working member of the British Royal Family.
"But I think the government and the Metropolitan Police would have seen it would have been wrong to see this man, a global icon and celebrity in his own right, step onshore in the United Kingdom without any protection whatsoever. So that was never the case that the government and the police wouldn't have provided a liaison to guarantee his safety and that of his wife and children.
"My own view is that Harry rather overplayed that and that was a mistake on his part."
And when asked if he thought the row was set to rumble on, Ken, who has written a new book called Diana: Remembering the Princess, said he thought Harry would realise the government and the police in fact want to help him.
He added: "I personally think it won't rumble on and it will stabilise - and I think he will realise if he does come back that of course there will be protection there. The country does have a responsibility to make sure that he is safe.
"But I don't see the government or the police for that matter caving in on it. I think Harry will have to work a little bit harder and understand that the government and the police are here to help him and they will do so."
Harry enjoyed round-the-clock protection in the years before he left his working role in the Royal Family in 2020 and moved with his family to the United States.
He and his team had argued that his US-based entourage does not have sufficient jurisdiction in Britain to be able to protect him properly.
They further argued his hiring of police officers during the duration of his trips would come at no cost to the taxpayer.
But the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), which falls under the remit of the Home Office, ruled last June that he could no longer be entitled to the "same degree" of security as he is now a private citizen.
Diana: Remembering the Princess by Ken Wharfe and Ros Coward, published by John Blake, is out now.
