Prince Harry's next court battle will have big impact on Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet

Prince Harry's next court battle is looming with the hearing in his legal case against his security arrangements in the UK due in April - and it could have huge consequences for the likes of King Charles as well as Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet

Prince Harry's next court battle is just a matter of weeks away - and the outcome will have a direct impact on Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Harry has been embroiled in a long-running legal case against the Home Office to have his taxpayer-funded police protection reinstated for himself, wife Meghan Markle and children Archie and Lilibet when they visit the UK. The Duke of Sussex lost the automatic right to the security when he visits his homeland when he and Meghan sensationally quit their royal roles and left the UK to set up a new life in the United States.

Last year, he lost his legal bid to have the security reinstated but vowed to appeal. The case is listed for a two-day hearing at the Court of Appeal set for either April 8 or 9. The case will come just weeks after he settled his latest legal battle with News Group Newspapers.

Harry has not brought his children to the UK since the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June 2022 and Meghan has not visited the country since Elizabeth II's death in September 2022. Harry previously said he would not

This means King Charles last saw his grandchildren almost three years ago and has only met youngest granddaughter Lilibet once. And a pal told HELLO!: "The goal for Prince Harry is simple. He wants to ensure the safety of himself and his family while in the UK so his children can know his home country and so he can help support his patronages and their important work."

It was previously reported the security issue has caused a deepening of his estrangement from his father the King, with a source telling PEOPLE: "Harry is frightened and feels the only person who can do anything about it is his father." However, the publication points out a palace source has explained Harry's security situation is not in the hands of the King.

Harry took legal action over the February 2020 decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) which ruled he would no longer be given the "same degree" of publicly-funded protection when in the country. Ravec's decision came as a result of a change in the duke's 'status' after he stopped being a "full-time working member of the royal family ", a judge was told.

In February, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke's case that he was "singled out" and treated "less favourably" by the decision and concluded Ravec's approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair. After the ruling, a legal spokesperson for Harry said in a statement that the Duke "hopes to obtain justice from the Court of Appeal".

During a hearing at the High Court, it was told that Harry believes his children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet cannot "feel at home" in the UK if it is "not possible to keep them safe" there. At a previous hearing in the case, in a written statement, Harry said: "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. 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 United States. 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."