It’s turned out to be a humiliating and expensive week for the Duke of Sussex. Denied the protection he sought, left looking for a royal bed and now facing hefty costs after losing his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, he seems more isolated than ever.
This was the last of Prince Harry’s recent battles against what he called in his book “a dreadful mob of dweebs, crones, cut-rate criminals and clinically diagnosable sadists along Fleet Street”.
And this was precisely the kind of drama that Buckingham Palace didn’t want on its doorstep. The timing of the court verdict was a contributing factor in the unholy mess which unravelled this week over where a disgruntled prince might lay his angry head. From a soap opera, the Windsors descended into a farce. Like a tennis ball at Wimbledon, the Prince and the Palace batted his request for somewhere safe to stay back and forth. And, in the end, he lost out – just as he did in his lawsuit. So where does he go from here?
First of all, the Prince needs to accept it’s not just the press or the Palace who are making his life so complicated. Bringing your kids to meet their grandfather – even after such a difficult period of estrangement – really shouldn’t be that difficult.
