It seems that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle never learn from past mistakes, writes Rebecca Russell.

The couple’s spokesman issued a blistering statement. (Image: Getty)

It’s quite incredible when you think about it… Harry and Meghan really will never learn. With just one move, they’ve achieved the exact opposite of what they wanted… yet again.

Proving they are the poster couple for warning against the dangers of impulsive action, the Sussexes sprang into action at the weekend to have their spokesman loudly declare that Tom Bower’s new book, Betrayal: Power, Deceit and the Fight for the Future of the Royal Family, was a “deranged conspiracy and melodrama”.

Perhaps they thought this was a cunning dismemberment… a surgically sharpened swipe at someone daring to question their truth – when, in reality, what they’ve just done is inadvertently turn a controversial book into a global must-read.

By reacting with extreme vitriol, all they’ve done is show that not only has the author struck a nerve, but they’ve guaranteed that the most damaging claims will stay in the headlines for weeks.

Prince Harry and Meghan issued a fiery statement (Image: Getty)

Yes, their statement might feel like a necessary defence of their truth, but Bower is a formidable opponent; he has a world-class track record of meticulously researched (if at times, unflattering) books on powerful figures – a true bloodhound when it comes to sniffing out the facts.

What Harry and Meghan seem to still not have grasped is that if you’re going to take on someone of this calibre, you need to come to the ring with your facts and your steely poker face at the ready, not a slew of throwaway and overly dramatic comments that sound like you’ve just cracked open your nearest thesaurus.

Far from creating the image that Harry and Meghan are these shrewd and capable statespeople that they like to present, effortlessly straddling the worlds of philanthropy, business and self-advancement with savvy sophistication, they’ve once again managed to do the exact opposite. It’s really becoming impressive at this point.

Rather than navigate the choppy waters this book will bring with a dignified silence, or choose to discredit each of Bower’s claims with a neatly presented catalogue of facts, they’ve gone from 1 to 100 in a few seconds.

They’ve instantly lost their power – they’re no longer the heavyweights eyeing their moment to deliver the fatal hammerblow, but rather two tantrum-throwing toddlers jumping up and down in the corner screeching about not getting their way.

The couple have reacted with fire yet again. (Image: Getty)

The King attended the opening ceremony of the games when it launched in 2014. (Image: Getty)

Ironically, by using such unweighty words like “deranged”, “conspiracy” and “melodrama”, they’re just creating the exact same “melodrama” they claim to despise… and round and round we go again.

They may not have the tactic down, but you can’t blame them – this is a high-stakes moment in the couple’s world: their UK security sounds as though it is a hair’s breadth away from being restored; they’re just about to trek off on another ‘quasi-royal tour’ Down Under, and are plotting their big return to the UK for Harry’s home run with his beloved Invictus Games.

It became indisputable in the summer that a thawing of his relationship with his father is what Harry craves most; meanwhile, we began to hear whispers that the King will travel to Birmingham in 2027 to open the next round of the Games.

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There’s no doubt about it that the monarch’s attendance would be the ultimate reset button for Harry’s reunion with his family, but, in the time that remains between then and now, he really needs to take a step back from the fire and prove he can coexist with the institution and everything that goes hand in hand with it, without trying to dismantle it.

Every time Harry takes a step forward, he seems to take another leap backwards. Perhaps he could take a leaf out of his brother’s book and learn not to add fuel to the fire when it is really not needed, because the reality is, the King won’t walk into any public space with Harry at his side if he fears their private conversations will end up splashed in the pages of Spare 2.0.