Andy Burnham says Harry and Meghan’s security is a ‘private matter’ as Sussexes’ return reignites row after Home Office rejected taxpayer-funded protection

Andy Burnham refused to be drawn on Prince Harry‘s security arrangements after it was announced he was returning to the UK for good.

The Prime Minister said it was a ‘private matter’ as questions were raised about who will foot the bill.

The Home Office, which has fought a long battle with the Duke over taxpayer-funded arrangements, has reiterated its security was ‘rigorous and proportionate’.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, will live in a non-royal residence, while their status as ‘private individuals’ will not change.

Harry previously said it was not safe for his wife and children to travel to the country of his birth.

When he lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the Home Office over his security arrangements while in the UK in 2025, he told the BBC he ‘can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK’.

But their decision that the family will be leaving California and living at an undisclosed location in the UK outside of London raises fresh questions about whether Harry’s opinions over the threat to his family’s safety had changed, or whether he had paid for security privately.

The Home Office, however, appeared to stand firm on its decision not to foot the bill.

A spokesman said: ‘The UK Government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate.

‘It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.’

Mr Burnham, when asked by reporters on a visit to West Yorkshire whether the Government would establish and fund their security, said: ‘Well, this is a private matter.

‘It’s a matter for for Harry and for Megan, and we wish them well in the moves that they’re making.’

Ailsa Anderson, Queen Elizabeth II’s former press secretary, said the public would want answers about how any security arrangements were funded.

She told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: ‘There will be questions asked – here is a non-working member of the Royal family, back in the UK.

‘Should the British taxpayer really have to foot the bill for his security?

‘People are struggling to put food on their tables, to pay their heating bills.

‘I don’t think it will sit well with the British public if they feel they have to pay for security for two non-working members of the Royal family.’

The Home Secretary does not get involved in security arrangements for members of the Royal Family or other key public figures, and decisions are taken by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures.

The committee’s membership includes the Home Office, Metropolitan Police and Royal Household, who work together to advise the independent chair in making decisions, which are informed by expert risk assessments and in line with Government policy.

The 2025 legal challenge came after Harry and Meghan left the UK and first moved to Canada, and then California, after announcing they wanted to step back as senior royals in 2020.

The Duke has made fleeting visits to the UK since leaving six years ago.

And in July, Harry and Meghan took Archie and Lilibet to see their grandfather, the King, for the first time in four years when they visited Charles and Camilla at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.