Prince Harry says he wants his children to “feel at home” in the UK but they cannot if “it’s not possible to keep them safe”.
The Duke of Sussex’s witness statement against the British government was read at the end of his high court hearing.
Harry is challenging a decision to downgrade his security protection when visiting the UK.
On Thursday, Shaheed Fatima, his lawyer, told the court that Harry did not accept that he chose to stop being a “full-time working member of the royal family”.
Harry said Archie and Lilibet, his two children, can not “feel at home” in the UK, adding that relocating to America was not a “choice”.
“It was with great sadness for both of us, that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020,” Harry said in a written statement presented to the court by his lawyer.
“The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home, as much as where they live at the moment in the US.
“That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.
“I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
The prince also wants the court to tell RAVEC, the body that determines royal security, to rethink its decision.
In its reaction, the home office maintained that the decision was taken properly. It added that since Harry is no longer a working royal, he would not be treated the same as the king and other senior royals.
Harry has been in the public eye since he left the UK in 2020.
In June, he took some British tabloids to court for alleged “harassment and phone hacking”.
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