Perhaps Meghan just doesn’t want to visit the UK

There is much discussion in royal circles about whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are going to return for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and – crucially – whether they will be booed by the public.

I, for one, would rather not see Harry and Meghan treated so shoddily, not least if they are within earshot of Her Majesty the Queen as she marks this truly historic milestone.

But fears of a hostile reception from ardent monarchists may go some way to explaining the current row over royal protection.

Prince Harry is seeking a judicial review of Home Secretary Priti Patel’s decision to strip him of his UK police protection team, claiming it is too dangerous for him and his wife to visit Britain without Scotland Yard bodyguards.

Lawyers acting for the prince, 37, who stepped down from royal duties two years ago, have written a “preaction protocol” letter to the Home Office, threatening to go to the High Court if his family are not provided with security while they are in this country, which they have offered to pay for.

Yet as many royal commentators, and indeed former royal bodyguards have pointed out, the couple will automatically be enveloped into the Met’s policing of the Jubilee because it’s an official event. It was the same when Harry came over for Prince Philip’s funeral.

What this seems to be about is the policing of the couple’s private visits to the UK – but surely by their very nature, they pose no significant security risk?

Celia Walden wrote a shrewd piece in these pages on Tuesday, in which she suggested that “bored Harry is trying to tell us he wants to come home”.

But maybe what the Sussexes are really trying to tell us is that Meghan categorically doesn’t. Only time will tell.