So now we learn that Prince Harry plans to return to Britain ‘more and more’. Sources close to Harry briefed at the weekend that his family reunion with the King last month left him feeling ‘buoyed’, ‘very happy’ and ‘really energised’ and that ‘he wants to spend more time here with his family’.

But their claims that he now wants to return every few months – and is planning a week-long trip to Blighty in September – raise more questions than they answer.

Is this really a dutiful, loving son’s concern about his elderly Pa’s health, a genuine bid to see him more often? Does Harry really want to help build a bond which was broken by his own betrayals?

Or more cynically, is he now trying to rebrand himself as the loving prodigal son now that the Sussexes’ approval rating has tanked in the US – as it did in the UK – with interest in Harry and Meghan’s once multi-million-pound Californian Sussex ’brand’ fast drying up?

It’s been a tough few years Stateside: No more $20million Spotify agreements. Meghan’s Netflix TV show, With Love, Meghan, axed after just two series. The couple’s first co-produced movie, Cookie Queens, about scouts baking biscuits, was an abject humiliation in its first week of release – trounced at the US box office by a compilation video of skateboarding cats.

interest in Harry and Meghan’s once multi-million-pound Californian Sussex ’brand’ is fast drying up, writes Amanda Platell

Friends say Harry will be coming back and forth a lot more, every few months. The way the wind is blowing, he’s going to want to be here more and more.

Now Harry’s friends, commenting on his plans going forward, insist: ‘The template for his visits has been working well, so the frequency of trips will increase, especially in the run-up to Invictus which he’s determined to make the best games yet.

‘So he’ll be coming back and forth a lot more, every few months. The way the wind is blowing, he’s going to want to be here more and more.

‘He’s happy these trips can now have more focus on the patronages and be less obscured by the other nonsense. He wants more of a foothold here, more trips back, less courtroom drama. And he always loves seeing his family.’

Forgive me if I seem churlish, but I do wonder whether this renewed enthusiasm for Blighty from Harry – who once said while serving his country on tour in Afghanistan that he ‘didn’t like England much’ – is yet another plot, cooked up in La La Land, to revive ailing Brand Sussex.

After all, it was a bit of a laugh-out-loud moment when Harry sources said he was ‘buoyed up and happy’ and wants to spend more time with the family he loves.

I struggle to understand how that was the Prince’s main takeaway from the hour-long meeting at Highgrove with his father and Camilla – who was reportedly there to ensure that Harry and Meghan did not break the strict ‘no photos, no leaks’ agreement.

Not to mention that Harry’s father and stepmother were the only royals willing to meet him apart from, it has been reported, his cling-on cousins Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.

Harry is said to be determined to make this year's Invictus games the best yet

Harry with the then Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games in London in 2014

There is no evidence of the Sussexes meeting either Harry’s aunt, Princess Anne, or his uncle, Prince Edward, during that visit.

And certainly, there was no meeting – not even a phone call – with his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Kate, who were so attacked in Harry’s memoir Spare.

In fact, those close to William believe the bitterness of betrayal he still feels towards his brother is so deep he will never even speak to him again – until the sad day when King Charles is no longer with us and duty will require it.

So, who is the ‘family’ Harry speaks of and professes to love?

More to the point, how is it that, having argued for years neither he nor his family were safe to come to the UK until they had a 24/7 security detail – which has been rightly denied them by the Government except for rare official events – he suddenly feels safe to pop back every few months?

Another reason friends say Harry wants to come back so often is ‘he feels he can support his UK-based charities with more in-person meetings’.

At the last count there are three of them: the Invictus Games, the event he co-founded for wounded military veterans, The HALO Trust for clearing landmines and WellChild supporting seriously ill children.

It hardly seems an arduous workload when one considers William is patron or president of up to 50 charitable, military and public organisations including Diana’s homeless charity Centrepoint, London’s Air Ambulance, the charity James’s Place for men in crisis and Tusk Trust supporting African wildlife, to name a few.

So it seems that Harry’s charity work may not be the real reason for him returning back home.

No, as I say, I fear this may well be a ‘softening-up’ exercise ahead of an imminent media operation to try to nudge up their popularity ratings here – Harry currently languishing at 27 per cent and Meghan at 18 – ahead of whatever new money-spinning plans they have cooked up.

But if Harry imagines he’ll just swan back into Britain and all will be forgotten and forgiven, then he is in for a rude awakening. Prince Harry burnt his bridges here a long time ago.

And if the King can only offer him one hour of his time, why should we, the public, give Harry even the time of day?