Harry’s Privacy Trial Takes a Chilling Turn as Known Stalker Sits Feet Away From Him in Court
Amid legal confessions and how the constant media intrusion changed his life for the worse, it was revealed that a known stalker managed to sit just a few feet away from Prince Harry during his ongoing privacy trial. The Duke of Sussex was at the Royal Courts of Justice for his case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail. The proceedings, however, took a drastic turn when a woman, who in the past has documented a history of obsessive behavior towards Harry, gained access to the public gallery on two separate occasions.
As per The Telegraph, an unidentified woman, who may be suffering from mental health issues, was spotted sitting in the public gallery of Court 76. She was positioned just a few benches from Harry, with the outlet also suggesting that she attended two of the four days he was in court. Although his private security team identified her immediately, they found themselves in a legal stalemate. “There is nothing they could do; they are not the police," an insider told the outlet, also adding, "It's a public building, and she has a right to be there." Despite the lack of authority to remove her from the scene, the presence of a known threat was described as ‘not ideal’ for a man who has long cited security concerns as his primary reason for avoiding the UK.
This is not the first time the said woman has managed to get close to the Duke. She had reportedly followed Harry and Meghan Markle during their high-profile trip to Nigeria in May 2024. Then, she allegedly also hid in the toilets of a London hotel for hours to intercept the Prince before he was ushered away from staff during the WellChild Awards on 8 September 2025. Just two days later, she appeared in front of him again when he visited the Centre of Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London, during which she was ‘body blocked’ by Harry’s private team as she tried to approach him again.
The incident comes at a critical moment for Harry’s security status. Last May, he lost a high-stakes appeal to reinstate his state-funded police protection, a decision he said confirmed his ‘worst fears.’ Although a full-scale review of his security was granted in December 2025, when he wrote a personal letter to the Home Secretary of the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC), Shabana Mahmood. Till a decision is reached, the Duke continues to rely on private protection that lacks police powers on British soil.
Experts have also chimed in on the matter, with royal author Robert Jobson suggesting that the Duke’s situation is ‘unique’ when it comes to security. Writing for HELLO!, he observed, “Harry didn't choose to be born sixth in line to the throne, or to inherit the fame and unwanted attention that comes with it… Unlike other veterans, Harry remains a named target.” Moreover, Tom Sykes, in his The Royalist substack, noted, "What this incident also shows is the weakness of the “bespoke” security package that Harry was told he would receive whenever he visited the U.K. From what I have been told by his camp, that tailored arrangement in practice amounts to as little as a phone number for a police liaison officer rather than an actual deployment of officers around him." While this remains a constant point of worry for Harry, sources close to the Home Office suggest that his security request is almost ‘nailed on.’ With that sorted, he might actually consider bringing his family back to the UK for a possible royal reunion.