Why Meghan Markle is putting Prince Harry on a ‘short leash’: Leaked texts testing Sussexes’ marriage

Prince Harry is being watched over by his wife whose made it clear that this catch up should end with “a civilised dinner and a glass or two of wine” because “anything more is a recipe for disaster” in her eyes.

This extends even to his trips to London because her bare bones expectation at the end of each night is a FaceTime check in.

According to the source who spoke to Closer magazine “this isn’t a new concern for Meghan – she’s seen firsthand how naïve and trusting Harry can be. All it’d take is one wrong word to the wrong person, and that could spiral into a full-blown scandal before he even realises what’s happened.”

Furthermore the messages where he talks about ‘missing snuggles’ and is doing ‘army stuff’ were the catalyst to prove she isn’t being paranoid either since, she now feels “she’s simply looking out for their common good.”

After all “they can’t afford even the smallest slip up” in this current climate and its made her ‘furious’ at the idea that this even happened. At too “at precisely the time their critics are chomping at the bit for any reason to come after them, and if Harry goes down, so does Meghan. This is because his ‘perfect family man’ image is a big part of her branding, “and one mistake could instantly tarnish that,” according to the same source.

At this point in time, with her expansion of As Ever planned for Australia they admit, “Meghan worries about Harry embarrassing them both.”

However, reputation isn’t the only reason Meghan’s going full protective mode either. Because this whole thing started after his messages with a Daily Mail journalist were shared in court.

In Meghan’s eyes, “the fact that he was introduced by his close friends to Charlotte proves he has to take extreme precautions. She’s not saying his friends were purposely trying to set him up, but it makes her uncomfortable. Meghan isn’t trying to cut him off from his circle, but there’s too much at stake for him to be mixing with anyone who hasn’t been fully vetted.”

As for what the Duke thinks, the insider admits, “Harry claims he understands and, for the most part, does as she asks – but there’s a big part of him that finds it pretty stifling to be so controlled. It’s something they’re doing their best to navigate, but it’s tricky.”

For those unversed, this comes straight from Prince Harry’s battle for privacy, a lawsuit that is he landlocked in against members of the press. One of whom is the journalist he exchanged ‘friendly’ messages with back in December 2011.

What caused the messages to circulate, is when Prince Harry testified, “I am not friends with any of these journalists.”

Messages with Charlotte Griffiths came out right after that, and shows her saying, “hello Mr Mischief... What a fun weekend of naughtiness – can't we all get up to no good in the countryside every [weekend] damn it?? Smooches, CG String.”

His response saw him call her ‘sugar’ and say “I would have been there playing and then drinking u under the table,obvi!! [...] wish I could have been there ….. especially now that you're there! Dou ever work?!!”

“Plan on getting back in the mix for Feb! U best be around ... ? Hope you're really well Griff ... Miss our movie snuggles!! I'm off comms all week incase u think I'm being rude, keep me posted xxx xxx xxx.”