Before Prince Harry and Meghan touched down in Melbourne on Tuesday, relations between the Sussexes’ media team and the Australian press had soured.

When Guardian Australia asked for details of the four-day tour we were told the itinerary would no longer be shared due to some media breaking the “strict embargo” on the information five days early.

“Media from the Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, and Sky News Australia unfortunately reported on sensitive embargoed information, complicating and compromising security arrangements, we are therefore no longer sharing itineraries beyond the initial ops note with media for the remainder of their trip,” a spokesperson from Meghan’s PR team said.

A breathless story in the Daily Mail on 9 April said: “Under-wraps details about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s impending trip to Australia can be revealed for the first time, via a leaked document seen by the Mail.”

The Mail said the “operational planning notes” detailed an itinerary with stops in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, and appearances included a homelessness shelter, a children’s hospital, an AFL club and Invictus Australia.

“The Mail is not disclosing specific details of dates and times outlined in the operational notes for security reasons,” the Mail generously added.

We wanted to ask the Daily Mail about the difference between breaking an embargo and “a leaked document” but they declined to comment.

The story has been taken down from the website, although a headline about “leaked operational notes” is still clearly visible on the site.

Not our fault, says Sky

But then the story turned. Sky News did not accept the allegation it had broken an embargo, and accused the PR team of misleading journalists.

“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s publicist misled journalists by alleging a key embargo had been breached, compromising the security and privacy of Harry and Meghan, before eventually backtracking on the claims,” Sky News said in its own “exclusive”.

“Sky News Australia had not received any information under embargo, meaning no agreement could have been broken. The information was in the public domain after being published by British media.”

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The Sussex media team acknowledged in an........

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