THE picture that pushed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to leave the Royal Family has been revealed by an expert.
The seemingly happy photograph was taken at Buckingham Place in 2020 and shows the late Queen, Prince William and King Charles resting a loving hand on Price George’s shoulder.
Royal expert Andrew Morton says this photograph fuelled the departure of Harry and Meghan from the Royal Family
The image was released days before the couple made their announcement that they were officially stepping back from royal duties
According to royal author Andrew Morton the image, released just days before Harry and Meghan made their life changing announcement, was the breaking point.
In his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, Morton wrote: “The royal couple suspected that the entire institution was conspiring against them. As they saw it, the evidence was all around them.
“The unspoken code was straightforward: the future of the monarchy was assured, with or without Meghan and Harry.”
While there were a number of issues that ultimately led to the couple removing themselves from the Institution, Moreton believes this was a “wake up call”.
In line with tradition, the portrait simply showed the monarch with his or her heirs like many produced before this one.
But behind closed doors, it reportedly caused a stir between the already fragmented family.
Morton adds: “This sense that, despite their international popularity, they were low down the royal totem pole was confirmed when Harry arranged to meet the Queen for a grandson-to-grandmother chat in early January.”
“At the last minute the meeting was postponed. Pod Save the King suspected classic internal politics, his family concerned that anything the Queen agreed during informal conversations would be used by Harry as a negotiating tactic.”
In January 2020, the power couple announced they were officially stepping back from royal duties – to split their time between the UK and North America.
The Duke, 38, and Duchess, 41, said in their surprise statement: “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution.”
According the Morton, the portrait of the late Queen, King Charles, Prince William and Prince George confirmed that The Firm were “conspiring against them”
