The couple’s trip comes amid Harry’s battle to regain armed police protection for his family while they’re in the UK. Harry’s family have not set foot in the country since 2022, when they all came back to Britain for the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The duke was waiting for a review by the Risk Management Board (RMB), part of the process by which the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) rules on his security requirements, but learned last Friday that it had yet to take place.

Despite that, his team were thought to still be working on finding the best possible way for him to bring his whole family to Britain next week.

In the last few days, the Sussex camp has been hit with new allegations, with two Daily Mail journalists accusing them of providing “favourable” briefings to a select few reporters.

The outlet’s Diary Editor and Editor at Large, Richard Eden and Alison Boshof, both hit out at the Sussex couple, accusing them of hitting a “new low” and branding them “agents of chaos”.

Ms Boshoff said: “'I went to the Sussexes' camp on Thursday to tell them what my story about the trip was going to be - and to offer them the chance to come back to me. They did not. However, what they did do was make sure that on Friday, they issued an operational note to their favoured reporters to tell them exactly what was happening on every day of the visit.”

Meanwhile, Mr Eden alleged: “Those who are [in the WhatsApp group] have been made to look like prize chumps – through no fault of their own, I might add.”

Now sources close to the Sussexes have hit back at the latest allegations.

One individual close to the California-based couple wondered why their media group chat had been blown out of proportion, even though the royal communications teams in Britain operate the same way.

Another source close to Harry and Meghan told the Daily Express: “That journalists from the Daily Mail are not members of the Sussex Comms WhatsApp group is hardly surprising, given they breached an embargo to publish details of a confidential ops note for the couple's trip to Australia.”

The Sussex couple headed to Australia back in April, with a leaked story from Daily Mail Australia revealing their itinerary and breaching embargoes before it was taken down just days before their trip.

The incident had reportedly affected the Sussex couple's ability to communicate their itineraries to the UK press.