'Miserable': Why royal photographer wouldn't tour with Harry and Meghan

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala at Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in 2021 in New York. Photo / Getty Images

A photographer who has toured with the British royal family for more than 40 years has revealed why he stopped going on "miserable" trips with Prince Harry after he met Meghan Markle.

In an interview with news.com.au's I've Got News For You podcast, Arthur Edwards, who is a photographer with The Sun newspaper in the UK, said his relationship with members of the royal family had grown beyond him just being the photographer and them the subject.

But as Harry's hate for the media grew when he met American actress Meghan, Arthur said he felt uncomfortable being around them.

"Camilla would always say hello, Kate says hello, William, yeah, they're all very friendly and so was Harry until he met Meghan, and then he became very very distant and he became almost, well, it was miserable," he said.

"In fact in the end I didn't do Harry's tours. I didn't do Harry's tour of Australia, not with Meghan. I didn't do Harry's tour of South Africa with Meghan.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala at Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in 2021 in New York. Photo / Getty Images

"I just find it very depressing with them. They just hated the media and it was miserable so I ducked out of them and sort of went with Charles to New Zealand and you know places like that."

The Duke and Duchess' negative relationship with the press has been evidenced by a string of legal action in recent years.

Last month, Harry filed a lawsuit in the British High Court against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

In December, Meghan won a court appeal with the Mail on Sunday for the publication of a private letter she sent to her father, Thomas Markle, in 2018.

Back in 2019, Harry filed a legal claim against News UK (owner of The Sun) and MGN (former owner of The Mirror) alleging illegal interception of his phone.

In 2020, Harry and Meghan filed a lawsuit in a Los Angeles court against unnamed photographers after photos were taken of their then 14-month-old son Archie playing in the backyard of a home they were living in when they first moved to California.

In the couple's famous interview with Oprah last year, Harry said he had feared history was "repeating itself", in a reference to his mother Princess Diana, before he and Meghan stepped back from their roles as senior royals in 2020.

Arthur shared fond memories of touring with Diana on the podcast.

"When we were somewhere up in I think Norfolk and she'd had a really close haircut, a really short haircut. And I said 'you know what, ma'am? If you have it much shorter you'd look like Sinead O'Connor,'" he said.

"She looked at me and she said – because I've lost most of my hair – she said, 'Oh, at least I've got some hair Arthur.' So she gave as good as she got."