LONDON -- Prince Harry says he's taking a "leap of faith" as he steps back from royal duties in an attempt to build a more peaceful life -- one free of the journalists who have filmed, photographed and written about him since the day he was born.

A business professor at Royal Holloway University of London says -- fat chance.

Pauline Maclaran, who is also the author of "Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture," says global fame will follow Harry and his TV star wife, Meghan, even as they relocate to the seemingly more benign environment of Canada.

She says the couple believe that if they are not representing the monarchy any longer, the tabloid press will eventually go away because it will be so expensive for them -- that there won't be the same savage approach.

But she says it's not very realistic to think they will be able to control it more from Canada.

Harry has long had a frosty relationship with the media, and on Sunday he made it clear that the press was a major reason for the couple's decision to step back from royal life.

In a personal speech that referenced his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car accident in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi, he said he had "no other option" but to step away.

Harry has accused the media of directing "a wave of abuse and harassment" at the biracial Meghan, including "racial undertones" in articles.

Both he and Meghan filed lawsuits last year against press outlets over alleged intrusion into their private lives.

At the time, Harry gave an interview drawing parallels between the treatment of his wife and the media frenzy that contributed to the death of his mother.