'Prince Harry is playing the victim once again – but his poor me routine doesn't wash'

Following on from Prince Harry's most recent return to the UK, a debate has been sparked about whether the Duke was invited to stay at a royal residence - something which have made it easier for Harry to have a brief meeting with his father.

While representatives from both parties claim different conversations took place, it has been reported that Prince Harry rejected the offer to stay at a residence such as St James's Palace, Clarence House or Buckingham Palace over fears for his security.

This decision, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond points out exclusively to OK!, is difficult to understand. "I find it very hard to buy the argument that Harry wouldn’t feel safe in a royal residence," she says.

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"They are heavily guarded, as you would expect and there are usually several ways of getting in and out of palaces and castles, so he wouldn’t necessarily have to be seen.

"I’m afraid it does rather sound to me like Harry trying to make himself into a victim once again, when we are told that the offer was there for him to stay in a royal residence.

"'Poor me! I have nowhere to stay. My family won’t put me up. So I have to book into a hotel, even though I am a prince!' I’m afraid it smacks of seeking sympathy."

Prince Harry meets members of the public as he departs The Invictus Games Foundation 10th Anniversary Service at St Paul's Cathedral

Jennie's comments come after it was reported that the King approved a request to allow Harry to stay at a royal home, aware that his youngest son no longer has an official UK property.

However, according to The Telegraph, Harry turned down the offer because it did not come with any security provision, and he would be staying in a "visible location with public entrance and exit points and no police protection".

Instead, as he has done on all his recent visits, Harry reportedly chose to stay in a hotel so "he could come and go unseen".

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The publication adds that Harry remains "devastated" about the withdrawal of his right to automatic police protection in the UK and has "become one of the biggest barriers to reconciliation with his father".

Earlier this year Harry suffered a major blow in his legal battle over the loss of his UK police protection after his bid to bring an appeal against a High Court ruling was refused.

The Duke of Sussex took legal action over the February 2020 decision by the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) which ruled he would no longer be given the "same degree" of publicly-funded protection when in the country.

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Ravec's decision came as a result of a change in the duke's 'status' after he stopped being a "full-time working member of the Royal Family," a judge was told.

In February, retired High Court judge Sir Peter Lane rejected the duke's case that he was "singled out" and treated "less favourably" by the decision and concluded Ravec's approach was not irrational nor procedurally unfair.

After the ruling, a legal spokesperson for Harry said in a statement that the Duke "hopes to obtain justice from the Court of Appeal".