Letters have revealed the Queen did want Prince Harry and Meghan Markle “effective security” – putting the royal couple’s story into doubt, say reports.

The notes between Queen Elizabeth II’s most senior aide and the then Cabinet Secretary, shown in court, show how the monarch considered it “imperative” that they kept “effective security”. Sir Edward Young wrote to Sir Mark Sedwill, explaining that keeping the Sussexes safe was “of paramount importance to Her Majesty and her family”.

But Harry is challenging the decision to downgrade his publicly-funded security detail after he quit as a working royal in 2020. In a statement read out on his behalf in court, Harry said he felt “forced” to leave the UK after the security downgrade.

Harry and Meghan have maintained a narrative that they were cut off by the Royal family. In his autobiography Spare, Harry says he was “desperate” to keep his security and begged his family – including the late Queen – to continue armed police protection. He says he told them: “Look. Please. Meg and I don’t care about perks, we care about working, serving – and staying alive”. Harry says he was facing “total abandonment”.

And, in a statement read out in court this week, Harry wrote: “It was with great sadness to 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 there is no possibility to keep them safe when they are on UK soil. I can’t put my wife in danger like that, and given my experiences in life I’m reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”

But in January 2020, at the time of their Megxit departure, the Sussexes said they “chose” to leave rather than were “forced”. A statement back then read: “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution.

“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment.”