Prince Harry has stated that losing a legal battle over his security in the UK has made it “impossible” for him to bring Meghan and their children back safely.

He mentioned that he doesn’t believe he will ever be able to return his wife and children, Archie and Lilibet, to Britain, but he also suggested that his father, the King, could help resolve the situation.

In a BBC News interview, the Duke of Sussex shared that because of the security decision, he simply “cannot see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”

He mentioned: “I can only come to the UK safely if I am invited, and there is a lot of control and ability in my father’s hands.”

He also said: “Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him, not by intervening, but by stepping aside and allowing the experts to do what is necessary.”

He went on to add: “That said, this all was initiated under a previous government. There is now a new government. I have had it described to me, once people knew about the facts, that this is a good old-fashioned establishment stitch-up, and that is what it feels like.”

The prince lost a Court of Appeal challenge against the Home Office over his security arrangements on Friday.

The decision came after the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) chose to reduce his high-level police protection following his and Meghan’s decision to step down from their full-time royal roles and move to the US in 2020.

Since then, the Duke has argued that his private security team in the US no longer has access to the UK intelligence needed to protect his wife and children effectively.

In the interview, the Prince also expressed his desire for “reconciliation” with the Royal Family but mentioned that the King “won’t speak to me.”

“I would love reconciliation with my family, there’s no point in continuing to fight anymore,” he said.

“Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has, he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff. It would be nice to reconcile.”

Harry warned that the Royal Family’s control over security means it “can be used to control” family members.

He said: “I think what really worries me more than anything else about today’s decision, depending on what happens next, it sets a new precedent that security can be used to control members of the family, and effectively, what it does is imprison other members of the family from being able to choose a different life.”

He added: “If, for me, security is conditional on having an official role, one that both myself and my wife wish to carry on, but then was rejected, not by Ravec, was rejected by the Royal Household, and the result to that is you lose your security – that basically says you can’t live outside of their control if you want to be safe.”