A photograph of Prince George with the late Queen and her heirs is believed to have served as a 'wake up call' for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, reinforcing their decision to step back from royal duties, according to an expert.
Photograph and its impact
The image showed the late Queen alongside her three heirs – the then-Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince George, then six years old – in the throne room at Buckingham Palace. Published in early 2020, days before Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step down as working royals, the photo ostensibly highlighted the monarchy's future.
However, it reportedly caused significant distress behind the scenes. In his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, Andrew 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."
Early exit discussions
Speaking on The Mirror's podcast Pod Save The King, Morton revealed that Harry and Meghan had considered leaving The Firm much earlier than publicly known, with conversations beginning just six months after their wedding. He said: "Harry was having conversations in a London hotel with Oprah Winfrey back in November 2018, just six months after they'd been married. So they were thinking about a different direction of travel pretty early on."
Recent criticism and reconciliation hopes
This comes after Prince Harry faced severe criticism following an interview with BBC News, shortly after a judge rejected his legal challenge over reduced security arrangements after stepping back as a working royal in 2020. In the interview, Harry stated: "I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore." He added: "Life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has," in an apparent reference to King Charles. "He won't speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile."
Harry claimed his security concerns "could be resolved" through King Charles, saying: "There is a lot of control and ability in my father's hands. Ultimately, this whole thing could be resolved through him. Not necessarily by intervening, but by stepping aside, allowing the experts to do what is necessary."
Buckingham Palace has consistently maintained that the King lacks authority to reinstate Harry's security provisions. One source told the Sunday Telegraph that the interview showed there is "nothing that can be trusted to remain private" and "as for their being no contact, well, he has just proven why, yet again." Another source told ITV News: "For a son who claims to want a family reconciliation, it's certainly a very curious way to build bridges or offer olive branches. His beloved grandmother would have been truly horrified. The King is a kind man with a warm heart and quite enough on his plate to deal with, without all this from his son."
