Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were considering stepping back from royal duties far earlier than the public thought, according to one royal author, and a photo of Prince George reportedly sealed the deal

A sweet snapshot of Prince George proved to be a ‘wake up call’ for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, cementing their decision to leave the Royal Family, an expert has claimed.

The couple are said to have believed at the time that the Royal Family were ‘conspiring against them’ – and the release of a photograph only served to reinforce their views, according to author Andrew Morton. The image in question showed the late Queen with her three heirs, the then-Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George, who was six at the time, in the throne room at Buckingham Palace. It was released at the beginning of 2020, days before Harry and Meghan first confirmed they planned to step down as working royals.

On the face of it, the picture simply showcased the future of the monarchy and mirrored many historic portraits. But it is alleged to have caused upset behind the scenes. 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.”

Harry and Meghan officially stepped back as senior royals in January 2020 ( Image: Getty Images)

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. Charles 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 Pod Save The King, 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 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.

The official photo showed the late Queen with her three heirs (Image: Ranald Mackechnie via Getty Images)
“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.”