As flies are to wanton boys – and this particular boy is as wanton as it gets – so Prince Harry is to court cases. Most Spectator readers would avoid the stern and unforgiving – not to say financially ruinous – environs of the Old Bailey for all they were worth, but the endlessly litigious Duke of Sussex has been haunting its halls with the grim determination of a man who knows that right is very much on his side.

Until now, it would appear. The news that Harry has withdrawn his libel suit against the Mail on Sunday has been greeted with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. That this most litigious of royal figures would deign to take his tanks off the lawn is something commentators regard as unprecedented, and embarrassing. It appears from the outside that Harry has somehow been shamed into saying that, actually, the claims in the MoS about his taxpayer-funded police protection might have some foundation in reality.

Well, we all know that there is not an iota of truth in this. Harry (and, let’s be honest, Meghan) have never withdrawn from any sort of action because they were shamed or don’t believe in it. They only withdraw because Brand Sussex doesn’t allow them to continue. And so, despite the £750,000 expenses that they will face, there is another line to be taken. As they said, ‘His focus remains there, and on the safety of his family, rather than these legal proceedings that give a continued platform to the Mail’s false claims all those years ago.’

Oh, mother. It’s another instalment in the fashion in which Harry and Meghan attempt to portray themselves as woebegone victims of an establishment that seeks to persecute them at every turn. For a very long time, this was seen as the status quo by those sympathetic to them. But these things have to come to an end, and now, we can see the embarrassing yet inevitable finale of this libel suit falling apart.

Brand Sussex will, of course, put ‘their version’ of ‘these events’ into the public domain over the coming weeks. And we can regard it with the same amused interest that we regard any public statement by an industry that we no longer trust. All of us have watched the saga of Harry (and Meghan) and the law courts with a mixture of curiosity and indulgence. For all our sakes, please can we let this vexed and unhappy matter rest from now on.