He’s fought his fair share of legal battles over the past few years – suing various news titles, and even the British government, in his bid to ensure his family’s privacy and safety. Indeed, despite leaving the UK for America over four years ago, Prince Harry has crossed the pond multiple times to continue his various showdowns in court. And despite incurring both losses and wins along the way, one thing has remained clear: if Harry has an axe to grind, he won’t let go.
But last week, the Duke of Sussex demonstrated just how combative – and defensive – he can be, after saying that the UK is “too dangerous” for his young family to visit. Speaking to ITV for the documentary Tabloids on Trial in the wake of his legal victory against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), whom he’d sued for damages following accusations of historical phone hacking, Harry refuted claims that suing the publisher brought even more unwarranted attention upon him and his wife, Meghan Markle.
“There is more than enough attention on me and my wife anyway,” he said. “They [the newspapers] pushed me too far.”
He added, “It’s still dangerous, and all it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read, and – whether it’s a knife or acid, whatever it is, and these are the things that are of genuine concern for me. It’s one of the reasons why I won’t bring my wife back to this country.”
Unsurprisingly, Harry’s words sent shockwaves – elucidating just how much discomfort he has on home soil. Until now, it’s been thought that Meghan’s reluctance to return to the UK has been due to her own aversions, having previously said she was vilified during her time as a working royal, and received no support from the palace in the aftermath. But now that Harry has expressed, quite frankly, just how uncomfortable and vulnerable he himself feels about the prospect of returning to the UK with his family in tow, it’s raised serious questions as to whether he’ll ever mend his rift with the royals, especially as he holds their indifference to partly blame for the schism between them.
“I think everything that’s played out has shown people what the truth of the matter is,” he said, when asked whether his family’s “decision not to fight” had added to his estrangement from them. “For me, the mission continues; but it has, yes, it’s caused, as you say, part of a rift.”
With all that being said, we’re told that Meghan is staying locked on her own mission – and that’s advancing her and Harry’s own prospects in the US, and leaving their lives, and woes, behind them. According to insiders, the former actress, who launched her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard earlier this year, is more determined than ever to close the chapter on their former life in the UK, and never look back. The issue is, however, that – as much as Harry takes issue with his treatment and safety in the UK – he still can’t let it go. In fact, behind closed doors, he still yearns for the country, and people, he’s left behind, and wrestles with the fact that his father and brother have no meaningful relationship with his and Meghan’s children, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three. So, he won’t give up fighting his battles on home turf – despite the fact that Meghan thinks they’d be far happier if they cut their losses and focused all their efforts on their American Dream.
“Meghan, of course, loves that Harry is so protective,” says an insider close to the Sussexes, who haven’t held back over the years in airing their complaints against the palace. “They get so much vitriol directed towards them in the UK, and Meghan can’t imagine a scenario where this will change. That’s something she came to terms with a long time ago, which is why she’s happy to stay back in America. But Harry is still adamant that he’s going to continue going back and forth. From her point of view, he’s being a bit of a martyr. She knows he needs to come back for his court cases, but she thinks it would be far more constructive to just let the UK go and enjoy what they’re building together in the US.”
In addition to Harry’s legal battles against MGN, Harry has also been forging concurrent battles against the government, over a decision to downgrade his level of personal security when he visits the UK. Earlier this year, the prince launched an appeal, after the High Court ruled that, having stepped down as a senior royal, he was not eligible for taxpayer-funded police protection. This, Harry says, is the crux of the issue when it comes to bringing his family back here. Yet despite railing against his treatment on UK soil, Harry has demonstrably refused to cut ties completely. He’s made several fleeting trips to the UK for business reasons, and also briefly visited King Charles following the latter’s cancer diagnosis in February. What’s more, last week he welcomed Birmingham’s winning bid to host the Invictus Games in 2027, calling the UK city a “formidable contender” thanks to its “strong ties to the armed forces community”.
Obviously, 2027 is a long way off, but – by celebrating his beloved Invictus Games’ return to the UK – Harry has sent a clear message that, despite his grievances, he’s not done with his homeland for good. The implication is that while, right now, he doesn’t feel safe, he’s giving the country, his family and the government every opportunity to do the right thing, in his eyes, to make him feel more secure.
“Harry has sent a huge message by choosing to hold the Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027,” says our source. “The decision proves he’s not going to let his ties to the UK die out, no matter how tough it is for him and Meghan to be here. He’s still hopeful that something will change in the next few years and that things might improve to a place where it does feel safe for him to return with Meghan. But at this point, it doesn’t look promising. By the time the games came around, if things have miraculously taken a turn for the better, they will reassess.”
For now, it seems, Harry is still torn between the life he left behind, and the family he wants to keep safe. As he himself said last week, he’s not willing to risk putting Meghan, or – by extension – their young family in the firing line. But that doesn’t mean he’ll give up the fight. As far as he’s concerned, we’re told, he’s waging his legal battles so that, one day, they can return. Whether that day will ever come remains to be seen.