Harry and Meghan Are Back in the U.K.—Along With Their Old Media Battles
Harry and Meghan are back in Britain, but a royal expert questions whether the couple can really have privacy on their own terms.
According to reports, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have already arrived in the U.K. for an ‘extended’ stay, though the couple has yet to confirm the news. Meanwhile, one royal expert has now questioned whether Harry can continue demanding privacy while choosing to move back to Britain.
Tom Sykes wrote on his Substack, The Royalist, “Harry and Meghan are refusing to confirm that they are in the United Kingdom… The thinking seems to be that it would undermine their own argument about privacy if they briefed about their movements.” Privacy has been a major issue that Harry has repeatedly raised over the years. Speaking at IAPP’s Global Summit, he said, “My connection to privacy, and the lack of it, begins in a different place than most. From birth (via Towns & Country).”
Sykes also questioned whether Harry and Markle’s strained relationship with the British media lies behind their silence. He suggested they may believe it would strengthen any future legal case if newspapers published details about their home or where their children attend school without the couple having publicly confirmed them first. The Duke previously sued Associated Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information gathering, though he ultimately lost the case.
“The level of Kafkaesque absurdity we have now reached is that their relationship with the British media is so toxic, so poisonous, so damaged, that the couple have arrived and are publicly refusing, for legal purposes, to say they have arrived!” Sykes wrote.
The commentator also argued that details about the couple’s new home are unlikely to remain private for long, claiming location rumors are already circulating in Cotswolds social circles. He pointed out that when wealthy people move into large country estates, news tends to travel through local communities, particularly because so many people make a living servicing these properties. A source told Sykes, “A lot of them simply can’t wait to see if Meghan really is as ghastly as everyone makes out.”
Ultimately, Sykes believes that Harry and Markle cannot realistically present themselves as private citizens while remaining prominent members of the Royal Family and seeking state-funded security. He also warned that their continued hostility toward the British media could also complicate their return, particularly as they attempt to build a new life in the U.K. “Developing a functional relationship with the British media is that it is through them you get a chance to mediate a relationship with their audience, the British people,” Sykes noted.
