‘The worst actress that ever lived’: Fleet St has the knives out for Harry and Meghan and this won’t end well

Already, the knives are being sharpened. Days after Harry and Meghan’s shock announcement of a UK return, the notorious British media is baying for blood.

Here in the UK, as elsewhere, there is confusion over the return of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after six years. Why take on this extraordinary pressure of moving back? Especially when there is little sign of any thaw in the hostility that they say drove them away? There is no apparent reconciliation with their family – King Charles was himself only informed of their return a few days ago.

Harry just lost a major case against the British tabloids and, along with six other high-profile claimants, must pay an eye-watering £9.54 million ($18.16 million) towards the Daily Mail publisher’s legal costs.

Even Meghan’s new acting role in Netflix series The Gentleman seems less than certain, as reports say it has been withdrawn “due to a public backlash”.

The UK public are not clamouring for the couple’s return to the fold. Polling by YouGov for The Sunday Times found that 51 per cent would oppose the duke and duchess returning as full-time working royals. Sky News polling found that 44 per cent opposed their return. The Sun headlined with one readers’ reaction that it was a “publicity stunt” , and amid a cost of living crisis 80 per cent of the tabloid’s readers say the Sussexes should fund their own security. Brits are, at best, divided by their return.

As a British-born journalist who has written for the UK tabloid Harry sued – The Sun – and other Murdoch titles, I should be Harry’s bête noire. Yet I admire him.

Harry impressively fought journalistic bullies, demonstrating in previous successful court cases that British tabloids were willing to drive people to paranoia through their inappropriate surveillance .

The prince and his wife were two of the few people who had the money, profile and determination to challenge such unethical behaviour. Good for them. I don’t blame them for demanding privacy, then selling memoirs and Netflix shows telling their story on their own terms and making money for their own children. To me, they got the last laugh.

Except there’s nothing funny about how short our memories are. Have we learnt nothing from Diana’s death, The Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking or the tragedy of the bullying of Charlotte Dawson ?

Tabloid hounding and spiteful reporting ruins lives – and kills women. The pen is always mightier than the sword. Yet the UK tabloids remain blood-stained red tops.

Have we forgotten Earl Spencer’s eulogy about his sister? “I always believed the press would kill her in the end… [they] have blood on their hands.” Can anyone truly blame Harry for fighting against such dark history being repeated with his wife?

Have we forgotten, also, that the 2012 Leveson Inquiry, following the News International phone hacking scandal, found a UK press culture that ignored its own ethical code in the pursuit of stories through covert surveillance?

The less cynical view for the Sussex’s surprise UK return is one you won’t read much now the couple’s name is dirt on Fleet Street.