On the latest episode of the Daily Mail's Palace Confidential, Royal Editor Rebecca English and a panel of royal experts discuss Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's quasi-royal tour of Nottingham, their first joint public engagement since returning to Britain in August.

Last Thursday, the Sussexes returned to the city where, nearly nine years ago, they made their first official appearance as an engaged couple, this time visiting three charities with which they have longstanding links.

The day before the Sussexes arrived, local news website Nottingham Live published a detailed itinerary of their tour, revealing exactly where the couple would be and when.

English told the show that such a 'blow-by-blow' account published in advance was highly unusual, explaining that timings for royal engagements are never released beforehand because of security concerns.

Police were forced to intervene during the visit when crowds blocked Harry and Meghan's car, Hello! reported.

As private citizens, the Sussexes are responsible for managing and promoting their own events, and English said she suspected the couple's own team had released the itinerary.

'In light of what Harry and Meghan have said about serious concerns over their security, you have to question it,' she argued.

'Why are they doing this? They clearly want the crowds there. Are they trying to provoke a situation where there is an incident by encouraging people to come down there, and then saying afterwards: "Look, we didn't have the police, we can't handle it"?

'They are encouraging people to go down there. None of this makes sense unless, of course, you are quite suspicious of their motives.

'Why are Harry and Meghan doing it? It really does make me question their motives.'

Senior Editor-at-Large Richard Kay agreed with English that it was 'hard not to be cynical' about the Sussexes' motives, given Harry's determination to have his security reinstated.

Harry lost his automatic taxpayer-funded protection in 2020, after stepping back as a working royal and moving abroad. The decision was based partly on the fact that he would no longer be living in Britain full-time.

With the Sussexes now back in the country, a new review of whether the taxpayer should fund their protection is under way.

'Things could easily get out of hand,' Kay said.

'How useful that would be in Harry's ongoing debate about how he wants his full-time security reinstated. It's hard not to be cynical about that process.'

Watch the full episode, where Rebecca, Richard and Diary Editor Richard Eden discuss the threat to the monarchy of the Sussexes embarking on their own quasi-royal tours, by subscribing to Palace Confidential on YouTube.