Buckingham Palace offered Harry a room, then took it back

Prince Harry was offered a room at Buckingham Palace. Then, days later, he wasn't.

The Duke of Sussex initially turned down an invitation to stay at the Palace during this week's UK visit, before changing his mind on Saturday and asking to take up the offer after all, just for one night. By the time Harry said yes, Buckingham Palace said the appropriate hospitality and staffing arrangements were no longer available, and the offer was withdrawn.

Harry's spokesperson called the reversal disappointing. Palace sources have pointed to something else going on behind the scenes: Harry's long running privacy case against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, had a judgment due the same week, and the Palace reportedly felt his presence at Buckingham Palace on judgment day could complicate the King's constitutional position.

That judgment landed badly for Harry. A British judge dismissed all claims in the case, which also included Elton John, David Furnish, Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley as claimants, ruling they had failed to establish that Associated Newspapers used unlawful methods to obtain information about them.

So Harry is in the UK for a run of charity events across London and Birmingham this week, minus the palace bedroom and minus a court win, all in the same seven days.

None of this is really about a spare room. It is about how thin the line still is between Harry and the rest of the family, one where a yes on Saturday and a scheduling clash by Tuesday is enough to blow the whole thing up again. The reconciliation everyone keeps hoping for still looks like it is one bad week away from falling apart, and this was that week.

If you are still holding out for a tidy Harry and Charles moment at a garden party, maybe sit this one out. There is always next visit.