It has taken quite some time for the King to lose patience with his younger son.

But after weeks of dithering, days of back-and-forth briefing, and the rejection of a long-standing invitation to stay at Buckingham Palace, he has finally had enough.

The King, whose parenting has hitherto been criticised for being too indulgent, has drawn a boundary for his 41-year-old son in a sharp lesson to be learnt publicly.

Buckingham Palace is not available on lastminute.com.

Prince Harry had rejected an offer to stay at the monarchy’s headquarters, then changed his mind after the deadline, and will now revert to plans to stay elsewhere.

It has taken much time, and much provocation for the King and his aides to get to this point.

They have remained largely silent as the Sussexes publicly worked through their logistics of a trip to Britain, which started as a straightforward five days working their way around Harry’s old charities and descended into mayhem.

First, Prince Harry was coming to Britain, then he was bringing his family, then he might even take his children to see their grandfather, the King.

Next, Harry and his team worried aloud that Buckingham Palace was not safe enough, its entrances and exits potentially allowing people to see the family through their car windows and put them in danger.

The Duchess and the children pulled out of coming to London; the Duke of Sussex dithered – in knots over a security report he had commissioned which showed there were threats, and a looming verdict from his legal case against a British tabloid newspaper.

He was accused of “emotional blackmail” for the to-ing and fro-ing over whether the King would be able to see his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who have not been to Britain since 2022.

Despite “requests for clarity”, it is said, Harry missed the deadline set for the end of last week to accept the King’s offer of Buckingham Palace rooms. His team formally rejected it on Saturday, it is understood.

And then the Duke changed his mind.

After his team announced that he would indeed be staying at the palace, the extent of what could politely be called a muddle was exposed.

The rooms are no longer available for Harry when he arrives on Monday, with too little notice.

There are logistical issues at play. The palace, which has 775 rooms and will be used to host visiting heads of state once it is reopened next year, is still a partial building site, and considerable numbers of household staff would have been needed if the Duke of Sussex and his family had come to stay.

The lack of courtesy to staff making such arrangements has raised eyebrows, as has the continued impression that the Duke considers the palace unsuitable for his needs.

Court matters

Complicating matters further is the judgment in his case against Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, which is expected to be handed down on Tuesday.

If he wins any part of his 14 claims, Prince Harry hopes to deliver a victory speech in public.

A year ago, after he lost his security case, he gave an interview calling the verdict a “good old -fashioned establishment stitch-up” and blaming the Royal Household for influencing the decision.

Whatever the verdict, the King – who is the “majesty” in His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service – cannot be seen to be too close to such conversations.

Little wonder the optics of his son sharing his views on Tuesday, then climbing into the car to drive back to Buckingham Palace, had caused alarm.

The King and his team know they will be criticised for not rolling out the red carpet for Prince Harry.

For fans of the Sussexes, it plays into the narrative that they are the victims of an unwelcoming establishment. A spokesman said it was “disappointing that the offer has now been withdrawn... at the last moment”.

The palace has made clear that Harry, his wife and his children are welcome to stay there again, if he accepts an invitation in good time and ideally with good grace.

Prince Harry will continue with his plans to travel to Britain, reverting to alternative private accommodation. Meghan, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet may still join him, staying outside London later in the week.

It has surpassed the Sussexes’ own records for drama, and the trip has not even begun.

The King, aged 77 and living with cancer, has engagements and audiences every day this week.

There are no arrangements confirmed yet for any much-talked-about meeting with his son or grandchildren.

On Monday he is at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, meeting military families. He is not expected to wear a helmet as part of proceedings, but may wish to don one nonetheless.