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The hearing is finished for the day and will continue at 10.30am tomorrow. 

Sir James Eadie KC is now making submissions on behalf of the Home Office. 

He argues Prince Harry's appeal has been brought on "relatively narrow grounds", including that Ravec didn't have a good reason to depart from getting an RMB assessment in the usual way.

Home Office position on Ravec's decision 

Eadie adds the February 2020 decision by Ravec was that Harry would no longer necessarily be provided with the same degree of publicly funded security when he was in the UK after his change in status.

He points out that the decision did not mean that "under no circumstances" would it "be provided in future".

The decision meant protective security would not be on the same basis as before because of his change of status and because he would be living abroad, but "would be provided as appropriate".

It is now a bespoke position with bespoke arrangements having been made with whatever Ravec considers appropriate in the future, he says. 

Bespoke arrangement 'a much better one'

Experts, including the chair of Ravec and the chair of the RMB, made the decision to take a different approach, which was "not just appropriate but a much better one" in the circumstances, Eadie says.

The experts found the "unique circumstances requiring the sort of bespoke approach" meant the RMB assessment was "neither appropriate nor especially informative," the court hears.

Eadie argues Harry would be "better served" by this approach - rather than being deprived of something useful, as his lawyers argue. 

Sir James Eadie KC, who is representing the government at the Court of Appeal this afternoon, is now speaking.

Shaheed Fatima KC, Prince Harry's lawyer, finished making her opening arguments in the last few minutes. 

We're now hearing the other side of the case.

Shaheed Fatima KC, for Prince Harry, now says there is no explanation for Ravec not doing the RMB (risk management board) assessment in contemporaneous email evidence. 

The court hears the emails say the RMB methodology was no longer suited to Harry's circumstances. 

Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls and one of today's three judges, says Harry's lawyer has made "closely reasoned submissions to bits of evidence here and there but these emails seem to say what they mean and mean what they say".

He summarises that they say in "fairly simple terms" that Harry's "safety and security is very important" but there "isn't any point" in having an RMB assessment done "because he's left the country".

The judge says the emails set out that Harry didn't have an assessment done by the RMB on the grounds it was "no longer required" because "alternative government arrangements" were being established "on a case by case basis".

He summarises Ravec's position before the decision over Harry's security arrangements in February 2020 by saying an "RMB wouldn't have helped in the decision" because "a bespoke arrangement is better". 

The judge tells Harry's lawyer: "You're putting your money on the absence of an RMB" as of February 2020.

But he adds: "This decision was not a final decision."

Prince Harry's lawyer is continuing to develop her argument on risk assessments (see previous post) - which she says were not applied to the royal before his protection status was changed in the UK, when they should have been.

Shaheed Fatima KC says the evidence shows that police "plainly" considered a risk management board (RMB) assessment "was relevant" for his first visit to the UK after Ravec's decision to change Harry's security arrangements. This visit was in June 2021.

She also says the judge who found against Harry last year appears to have misunderstood evidence from the then-chair of Ravec, Sir Richard Mottram.

Fatima adds the fact that someone is living abroad and comes back "from time to time" doesn't dilute the relevant factors being considered.

She argues the "so-called bespoke process" applied to Harry is "fundamentally different" and "fundamentally inferior" than for anyone else Ravec makes security decisions about.

Prince Harry's lawyer Shaheed Fatima KC is continuing to make his case in court.

She now makes reference to his witness statement, which we have not seen. 

She says he describes how "he's benefited from protective security over his life". 

Fatima says no other person has been treated similarly in being denied an RMB (risk management board) assessment.

There is a "clear unqualified requirement" Ravec's decision must be based on the RMB, she says. 

The KC tells the judges this "stark and wholesale departure from the requirements of the terms of reference needs to be taken into account". 

Shaheed Fatima KC again says Prince Harry has been "singled out" in what she describes as an "unjustified and inferior way".

She says there is nothing in Ravec鈥檚 terms of reference that suggests an RMB (risk management board) assessment is anything other than mandatory for anyone within Ravec's remit.

The court earlier heard members of the Royal Family and some other public figures fall within Ravec's remit. 

Fatima says the judge who found against Harry last year made a number of errors in his judgment. 

She says he took a "deferent approach" to Ravec's terms of reference as a whole. 

The KC also argues he shouldn't have found the 2017 terms of reference didn't require Ravec to do an RMB assessment.

She adds the previous judge "got off on completely the wrong foot".

A third error was the judge's conclusion the terms didn't apply to Harry when Ravec made the decision over his security arrangements in February 2020, she adds.

Sir James Eadie KC will be representing the Home Office at the Court of Appeal this afternoon, after Prince Harry's lawyer Shaheed Fatima KC finishes her arguments (you can read about her career in our 12.11 post)

Sir James is one of the government's go-to barristers.

Analysis by legal insight publication The Lawyer shows Sir James is the top-ranked barrister at the Bar since 2015, according to London law firm Blackstone Chambers.

He has taken on double the court work of any other ranked barristers, it added.

He's also known as the "Treasury Devil" for being the KC the government first turns to for legal advice.

From "terrorism to tax", he counsels the government on a range of issues and has acted on their behalf in several landmark cases, including that of former ISIS runaway and east London resident Shamima Begum.

He was named Human Rights and Public Law Silk of the Year at the Chambers UK Bar Awards in 2017 and in 2021.

He's also regularly listed as one of the most influential lawyers in the UK in The Times Law 100.

The court has resumed for the afternoon session and we're expecting to sit until 4.10pm. 

Prince Harry, who was seen eating a Pret A Manger lunch during the break, is back inside Court 73. 

His lawyer Shaheed Fatima KC will continue making submissions on his behalf.