By Michael Holden
LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) – A year after he and his wife Meghan announced they were stepping down from royal duties, Prince Harry said the shock move had been driven in part by the actions of a “toxic” British press which was destroying his mental health.
“I did what any father or husband would do and thought, how do I get my family out of here,” he said in a 2021 interview on “The Late Late Show with James Corden”.
Six years after that decision to move to the U.S., which sent shockwaves through the monarchy, Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, will this month return to Britain where they will send their children to school.
And that will mean returning to the media scrutiny that they had desperately sought to leave behind.
HARRY HAS TAKEN NEWSPAPER GROUPS TO COURT
“Look, there’s no doubt that the British press and the British media are going to try and follow their every move,” royal commentator Afua Hagan told Reuters.
“Perhaps they are walking back into the lion’s den, but they’re walking back into a lion’s den prepared. They’re not bringing a knife to a gunfight.”
In the years since leaving Britain, Harry has waged war in the courts with the British press, successfully suing two major publishers, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, but he lost possibly his biggest battle against the Daily Mail last month.
Many of those accused by his lawyers of being complicit in unlawful behaviour remain in senior posts or have since moved to editor positions, with most of those claims not upheld by the courts.
When he gave evidence at the Daily Mail trial, he held back tears as he said the tabloid had made Meghan’s life “an absolute misery”.
BIOGRAPHER SAYS PRINCE WILL EXPECT PRIVACY
In those circumstances, the timing of the return to the media lion’s den was surprising, one senior former royal aide said.
“You escape by the skin of your teeth being eaten, fight them, lose and then come back to face them again. It’s absolutely baffling,” the aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
But royal biographer Robert Hardman said he thought the way the couple would be treated would be different now.
“I think Harry’s sort of moved on. We have to assume that his days as a serial litigant are now over,” he told Reuters.
“They will expect and demand and receive the same sort of privacy that’s accorded to other celebrities. If they’re in a public place, then they’re fair game. If they’re in private, they’re not.”
While Harry clearly still hates the press, and the couple have campaigned on the perils of social media and its damaging impact especially on young people, Hagan said their perspective might have changed.
“I think there’s also probably an element that they have decided that there are more important things in life,” she said.
SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS REMAIN UNKNOWN
How they deal with the media is just one of many as yet unanswered questions arising from the couple’s volte-face on living in Britain.
Harry fought and lost a lengthy court battle with the British government over his security arrangements, after a specialist body decided in February 2020 that Harry would not automatically receive personal police protection.
He said the decision was devastating and could mean his family would not be able to safely return to Britain.
Who will now pay for his security and at what level of protection remain unknown.
“This is a private matter,” Prime Minister Andy Burnham said when asked if the government would pay. “It’s a matter for Harry and for Meghan, and we wish them well in the moves that they are making.”
FAMILY RIFT
Possibly the biggest issue for the couple will be how they deal with lingering and deep resentment felt not just within the institution of the monarchy but by other members of the royal family, especially Harry’s elder brother Prince William.
The brothers, once very close, now barely communicate, following personal criticism levelled at William and his wife Kate. Harry even wrote in his memoir “Spare” that William had knocked him to the floor during an argument over Meghan, breaking a dog bowl in the process.
The ex-royal aide said the senior royals were not fans of Meghan, due to the level of drama that had arisen since she met Harry. While it was hard to gauge what his elder brother would think, given the lack of reconciliation between the siblings, the aide expected William and Kate and their advisers to be apprehensive.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment about the family’s return to Britain. But media reports said the king welcomed being able to see more of his youngest son and his family.
The former aide said for a true rapprochement to take place in the family there would have to be a lot of trust restored with apologies from Harry and Meghan, who have likewise said the royals need to say sorry to them.
“The family’s got to break bread and make peace, and that is hard to see in the short term,” the ex-royal official said.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Additional reporting by Kate Holton and Francesca Halliwell; Editing by Alison Williams)
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