Harry and Meghan can't keep living like working royals, writes Shelagh Fogarty

Not because of anything the King has said. In fact, he hasn't said anything at all about the Games.

The announcement came from the son of the Ugandan president, who declared that Uganda would not take part in "anything that does not have His Majesty's approval". He went on to complain about what he called "that Harry-Meghan nonsense" within Uganda's Ministry of Defence.

It's worth being absolutely clear about one thing.

Neither the King nor Buckingham Palace has ever suggested they disapprove of the Invictus Games. Not once.

And that's important because Invictus remains one of Prince Harry's greatest achievements. It has given injured veterans not just a sporting competition but, from everyone I've spoken to who's competed in it, something genuinely therapeutic. It has helped people rebuild their lives.

The only people who suffer from Uganda's decision are the competitors.

Friends of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex believe this is an obvious consequence of the King's recent letter clarifying that Harry and Meghan are private citizens. The guidance wasn't aimed at the couple themselves. It was sent to organisations and individuals who needed clarity about how they should engage with them. It simply made clear that Harry and Meghan are no longer working members of the Royal Family.

Frankly, I think that's fair enough.

They're not working royals. It seems perfectly reasonable for the Palace to say so.

I've often defended Harry and Meghan's right to earn money. Harry is the King's son. Meghan married into the Royal Family. Those facts don't disappear because they've stepped back from official duties, any more than Zara Tindall stops being Princess Anne's daughter.

In fact, I've often used Zara as the comparison.

She has a proper career. She's an outstanding equestrian. She has sponsorships, commercial partnerships and promotional work, much of it connected to that world. Of course being Princess Anne's daughter brings attention to what she does. Everybody knows that, including Zara. I've never had a problem with it. By all accounts she's hard-working, down to earth and simply gets on with her family life and her professional life.

Harry and Meghan should absolutely be free to do the same.

But here's where the comparison starts to break down.

Harry doesn't really have a job in the way Zara does. I'm not criticising him for that. But the life he and Meghan have built still looks remarkably similar to that of working royals.

Look at their recent visit to Australia. It was a success. But it looked like a royal tour. It walked like a royal tour. It was a royal tour.

And I suspect that's part of what the King's letter was trying to address.

I think Harry and Meghan will find more and more examples of this. I think it's going to get ugly.

Because they insist on living a life that looks almost exactly like that of working members of the Royal Family, while also insisting they aren't.

If it were me, I'd just think, "God, this is tedious." Having to battle your way through the world because you've chosen a life that so closely resembles the one you've left behind.

Should they have stayed in? Well, perhaps they couldn't. Perhaps it had become unbearable.

Fine.

But if you're going to leave, then leave.

Do what Zara does.

Build a life that stands on its own terms instead of one that constantly invites comparisons with working members of the Royal Family.

I'm not sure Harry and Meghan are looking to me for advice.

But I do think that's the answer.

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Listen to Shelagh Fogarty from 1-4pm Monday to Friday on the LBC app.

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