Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were reportedly convinced that the "entire institution" was against them during their time working in the Royal Family owing to an "unspoken code". While there were a number of causes which ultimately contributed to their departure, royal author Andrew Morton believes the release of one picture served as a "wake up call" for the couple.
Before they announced that they were stepping back from their roles as senior royals, Prince Harry and Meghan reportedly believed The Firm were "conspiring against them". This sentiment allegedly reached boiling point after the Royal Family released an official photograph which showed the late Queen and her heirs, King Charles, Prince William and Prince George.
The happy image was taken in the throne room at Buckingham Palace and was shared publicly at the beginning of 2020, just days before Harry and Meghan made their earth-shattering announcement.
On the face of it, the picture simply lined up the future of the monarchy and mirrored many historic portraits which have shown the monarch with his or her direct heirs.
Despite the precedent, royal author the Queen claimed it caused upset behind palace walls.
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.
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"The unspoken code was straightforward: the future of the monarchy was assured, with or without Meghan and Harry."
These fears were later said to be confirmed when Harry cancelled a meeting with the Queen, in which he'd wanted to discuss his royal future, Morton claimed.
"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."
Speaking to The Mirror's podcast ' the Commonwealth. ', Morton revealed that Harry and Meghan had started to think about leaving The Firm far earlier than the public thought and said talks began just six months after their wedding.
Morton told the podcast: " 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.
"The irony is they had been given the keys to the first class lounge when Prince Harry was given the position of Youth Ambassador to William and Catherine
"This was effectively the Queen's way of saying 'you do the rest of the world, leave Royal Family to do the UK where they will eventually be the Heads of State.'"
The couple announced that they were stepping back from the Buckingham Palace in January 2020.
Their statement read: “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.
"We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support Her Majesty the Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment.
"We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to the Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages.
"This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity."
At the time, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said in response that discussions with the couple were "at an early stage” and added: "We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.”
