Prince Harry’s July visit was overshadowed by his High Court loss in a privacy case brought against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Prince Harry and several other well-known figures claimed the newspaper group used unlawful methods for getting information for stories, allegations which were strenuously denied by Associated Newspapers.
On Friday, a High Court judge will rule on how much of the newspaper group’s costs Prince Harry must now pay.
The duke has complained of press intrusion into his relationship with Meghan and told the court in January: “They’ve made my wife’s life an absolute misery.”
Former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, Ailsa Anderson, said that no one had seen the Sussexes’ move coming.
“It’s an extraordinary surprise, it’s a bolt out of the blue really,” she told the Today programme.
Anderson said the move also raises a number of questions, including about Prince Harry’s relationship with his brother, and the Sussexes’ security arrangements and relationship with the British press.
Prince Harry’s latest trip to the UK in July could also have helped him come to the decision, she said, in particular his visit to his late mother’s ancestral home in Northamptonshire.
