‘Should have happened in secret’: Why the Sussex show is best left for America

Opinion: The Duke of Sussex is said to be “desperate” for his children to see their grandfather, King Charles, yet is partially to blame for creating the unnecessary drama surrounding his planned return to the UK with Meghan.

The Sussex family’s long-awaited visit to Britain for the first time in four years – including Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet – is proving to be the biggest royal story of the year and it hasn’t even happened yet.

Ongoing concerns around the level of security Prince Harry and his family will receive appears to be the main sticking point after the duke was denied taxpayer-funded police protection for the five-day tour in early July.

After representatives for team Sussex confirmed to media on Friday that Harry and Meghan would be taking their children to the UK, they quickly backtracked after learning their request for government-funded security would not be granted.

In response, a source speaking for the couple accused the UK government of “wilfully creating conditions that are making it nearly impossible” for the family to move around Britain.

Prince Harry, the source told multiple UK media outlets, believed his family’s visit to Britain had been “pulled out from under their feet at the 11th hour”.

The duke, they added, was “distraught” but he would not subject Archie and Lilibet to be “chased by paparazzi wherever they go from the moment they step off the plane. He won’t put his children through that”.

Harry was “looking at every option to try and get the family here safely and keep them safe when they’re on the ground”.

“The hope is they can meet their grandfather.”

The latest option said to be under consideration by Harry and Meghan to facilitate a reunion between their children and the monarch is flying them into the UK for just 24 hours from their current base in mainland Europe, where they are holidaying.

It would potentially avoid Harry putting his children at the risk he believes is very real.

The king has offered the family use of a royal residence that would put them under the protection of police, but only when they are on the property.

The private security detail who follow the Sussexes around, including to Australia in April, have done their own risk assessment and have identified serious concerns.

The Sussex source pointed out that “the endless speculation about where the family will stay is making the planning and logistics for the private security team increasingly difficult”.

But there is one way Prince Harry could have avoided the “endless speculation” and ongoing discussion about his children being reunited with the king.

The family meeting between the Sussexes and the monarch could have happened in top secret − in private − before Harry and Meghan’s team had made any comment about their return in Britain.

Had Archie and Lilibet been flown into the UK without the Sussex representatives briefing the media beforehand − as they did a fortnight ago and then again on Friday − the reunion could have been done behind closed doors and without any of the fuss.

For a couple who left their places as senior working royals, in part to escape the constant attention that comes with the job, Harry and Meghan appear to crave the very drama they are said to despise.

While I am sure Harry would love to have his children spend more than 24 hours in Britain to meet friends, extended family and experience part of the royal life he once had, if Archie and Lilibet’s safety and privacy was the biggest concern then a covert fly-in, fly-out mission surely would have been the best way to proceed.

Harry and Meghan were never planning to include Archie and Lilibet in any of their public events next month. So, in theory, a secret visit could have taken place.

Both the duke and duchess are said to be concerned with protecting their children’s privacy, yet Meghan regularly shares photos of Archie and Lilibet on social media, albeit with their faces partially obscured, when there is a self-promotion benefit.

Just when royal observers had started to think maybe, just maybe, the strained relationship between Harry and his father had started to improve, the Sussexes have brought so much unneeded drama to this visit before it has even happened.

The ‘Sussex show’, as it appears to so many onlookers, is best left for America where drama, self-promotion and celebrity go hand-in-hand.

One wonders whether many Brits even want Harry and Meghan, and their children, back after the Netflix documentary, Spare, Oprah and countless other interviews they’ve given since their exit in 2020.

Bizarrely, what might work in the couple’s favour in winning back affection in the UK, affording their children some level of privacy, and reducing some of the frenzy around their visit is doing another tell-all interview.

But this time, the Sussexes should not complain. As the phrase goes, they might catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

An apology of sorts, or a plea for acceptance, might be what is needed. That, and showing their children’s faces in full would alleviate some of the hype surrounding their movements.

After all, Harry and Meghan know they can’t shield Archie and Lilibet from the world’s media forever.

And the duke’s Invictus Games are being held in Birmingham next year. Having Meghan by his side would follow other incarnations of the event around the world.

Having the King there, too, would be the ultimate win for Harry.