King Charles and Queen Camilla wanted the Sussexes’ UK visit to be a quiet, private affair but the trouble with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is – they just can’t help themselves. Harry, Meghan, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet made only their second visit to Britain as a family-of-four last month, ostensibly to publicise the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham.

Ironically, despite months of wrangling over security and perceived snubs, Meghan and the children were never seen in public – and there was a tacit agreement to keep any royal sections of their visit discreet. To be fair, they kept their word – if such a word was ever needed or given – by not yet mentioning meeting King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House.

But if there is one thing I have learned writing about Harry and Meghan, there is always a ‘but’ – around the same time as there is a ‘commercial opportunity’.

Just as Meghan made her TV appearance on MasterChef Australia, filmed during their April trip Down Under, the social media silence around the UK trip finally broke like the Eder Dam during the 1943 Dambuster’s Raid.

Meghan shared some summer holiday snaps on social media which included a photo of Archie and Lilibet carrying bouquets through the grounds of Althorp, Princess Diana’s ancestral home, where they likely visited her grave.

Prince William was reportedly fuming about the picture, with insiders claiming he would see it as crossing a line by including a deeply personal family visit in a public social media post.

Also supposedly annoyed and disappointed in the Sussexes are Queen Camilla and Earl Spencer himself.

The Queen, present when Charles was reunited with his grandchildren for the first time in four years, was “very clear” that the couple should not share anything online about their trip, a source told New Idea.

“Camilla’s words appear to have fallen on deaf ears,” they said. “She feels that she was clear about no social media posts, and if Meghan thinks Althorp was an exception, she was very wrong.”

The condition was primarily intended to keep the reunion private for Archie and Lilibet, the source added, but Meghan breaching it could mean “the door would remain shut for her forever”

There are two things to say: firstly, yet again for a couple who constantly go on about the sanctity of their privacy they seem happy to drag other loved-ones emotions for the sake of a social post, or a best-selling book.

Secondly, it yet again appears to prove to Charles and Camilla – not that they need much extra evidence – that when it comes to secrets and discretion, the Sussexes cannot be trusted.

But thirdly, Harry and Meghan are not daft. This was no accident. There was a reason behind potentially causing a response that they could 100% see happening from that post.

It was calculated. So why?

I think there is a bigger power play here than any of us first realised. Camilla and Charles laid down some UK return ground rules, and once back in the US, the Sussexes have broken them.

They are saying: “Just a gentle reminder, you are not completely in control of what we do.”

It is an arrogance that has overshadowed much of what Harry and Meghan have done or said regarding our Royal Family since Megxit.

It is a trait that also means the Royal Family simply can never trust them.

There is a saying about keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer. There’s another one about tents, and whether you want someone having a ‘no.1’ inside or outside.

Charles and Camilla may still want to convince Harry and Meghan to pop back and visit their tent once in a while, but they will be watching their backs much more carefully now.