Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have a difficult relationship with other members of the royal family
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s fractured relationship with the royal family now seems beyond repair.
The discord between the Sussexes and the royals can be traced to the point they decided to withdraw from royal duties.
A delightful photograph of Prince George is said to have served as a ‘wake up call’ for Harry and Meghan, solidifying their determination to depart from The Firm, according to an expert.
The picture showed the late Queen alongside her three heirs – the then-Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George, who was merely six at the time – in the throne room at Buckingham Palace.
It was published in early 2020, just days before Harry and Meghan initially revealed their plans to step down as working royals. On the face of it, the photograph just showcased the future of the monarchy and mirrored numerous historical portraits, reports the Express.
Nevertheless, it is claimed to have triggered significant distress behind closed doors.
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.”
Speaking to The Mirror’s podcast Pod Save The King, Morton additionally revealed that Harry and Meghan had started weighing up their exit from The Firm far sooner than the public had realised, disclosing that conversations began just six months following 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.”
This comes as Prince Harry faced significant backlash this week following an interview with BBC News, shortly after a judge threw out his legal challenge over his reduced security detail following his decision to step down as a working royal in 2020.
In the interview, Prince Harry said: “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore.
“Life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has,” he continued, in what appeared to be a reference to King Charles. “He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile.”
Harry went further, claiming his security concerns “could be resolved” via King Charles. “There is a lot of control and ability in my father’s hands,” he said.
“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 does not possess the authority to reinstate Harry’s security arrangements.
In response, one source told the Sunday Telegraph that it demonstrated 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”. A
separate 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.”