Is Harry and Meghan's tabloid broadside ill-advised?
The couple have told four newspapers and their Sunday counterparts that they will not be engaging with them in future.
Monday 20 April 2020 16:30, UK
Pictures of Harry and Meghan were splashed all over the UK papers this weekend.
They may be starting their new life in America, but they still sell newspapers back in Britain and the couple in this latest letter to the tabloid editors are very clearly setting their boundaries.
The couple have had enough of being clickbait and they won't be engaging with those papers anymore.
At a time when the coronavirus pandemic is the only thing most of us can think about, some of the front pages still found considerable space for photos of the couple this weekend.
It was the first time they'd been photographed out and about in Los Angeles, wearing face masks and gloves, handing out food parcels for those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
We know that Harry has never been a fan of the paparazzi, and will not have been happy to see photographers or the photos appear in the papers back here.
But still, the announcement that the Sussexes have decided to tell four of the UK's tabloid papers that they will no longer engage with them, has come a little out of the blue.
This is not just about the pictures at the weekend, this is a long-running battle between the couple and the papers, one where neither side will back down.
When they announced they were stepping down as senior royals, they told us the way they were going to engage with the media was going to be different and this letter makes that 100% clear.
The letter sent to editors at the Daily Mail, The Sun, The Mirror and The Express, says "There will be no corroboration and zero engagement.
"This policy is not about avoiding criticism. It's not about shutting down public conversation or censoring accurate reporting.
"Media have every right to report on and indeed have an opinion on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, good or bad.
"But it can't be based on a lie. They also want to be very clear: this is not in any way a blanket policy for all media."
So why send this letter now, when the world is focused on coronavirus?
Does it not risk appearing a little self-indulgent?
I understand the couple did not want to take this step now, because like everyone else they want to focus their energy and attention on supporting organisations that are responding to the pandemic.
But as legal action with one of the tabloids moves to its next phase, they felt they needed to set out a clear agenda.
On Friday, the first hearing in their case against The Mail on Sunday will take place remotely at the High Court in London.
The couple decided to take legal action after the newspaper published extracts of a letter Meghan wrote to her father Thomas Markle in 2018.
We now know from legal documents just released that Meghan will argue that "the UK tabloid media, particularly the Mail, harassed, humiliated and manipulated TM (Thomas Markle), despite repeated requests to leave him alone", and that "rather than just report the so-called dispute between the Duchess and TM, the Mail contributed towards it".
It was last summer that we first found the couple had filed action against the paper.
At the same time, Prince Harry made it very clear how he felt about the way he believes the media has treated his wife.
:: Listen to the Behind the Headlines podcast on , , ,
At the end of their very successful Africa tour, he issued a ten-paragraph statement condemning the press for a "ruthless campaign" against his wife, of "relentless propaganda" and "continual misrepresentations".
His desire to protect his family is understandable and this latest letter to the tabloids is putting in place another boundary as they embark on their new life.
Yes they wanted to draw that line as they get ready to do battle in the courts, but when it comes to the court of public opinion, I suspect their timing will be seen as ill advised.