A photo of Prince George was a "wake-up call that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would never be superstars of the royals", a royal commentator has claimed.
The image shows the eight-year-old alongside Prince Charles, the Queen and Prince William and was released at the start of 2020 to mark the new decade.
Not long after its release, Meghan and Harry made the bombshell announcement that they were stepping down as senior royals.
Royal commentator Neil Sean had suggested on his YouTube channel that while that photo had made the Duke and Duchess of Sussex consider their position, it wasn't what caused them to step back.
Neil observed that it showed "a new, streamlined monarchy".
He said: “We have Prince Charles, Prince George, and of course Her Majesty the Queen. And this was going to be showing, alongside William, where the next phase is.
“Well, of course, if you look at the picture, it makes perfect sense. Obviously, that is the next line-up.”
However, the royal commentator claimed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's plans to step down had been in the works long before the picture's release.
He suggested: "Harry and Meghan had decided more or less within the first few months of meeting that they could have a different life,” he suggested.
“It wasn’t exactly mapped out word for word, what we’ve ended up with, but certainly for Prince Harry, he wanted to have a different role in his life.
“We’d seen that already with him trying to branch out within the military, and of course, alongside Kate and William, he started those mental health charities.”
Even though he suggested the picture was not the final try he still claims it must have been a "wake-up call" for the couple.
He said: "I do believe that it could have been something of a wake-up call to realise that perhaps he and Meghan would never really truly be the superstars of the British monarchy.
“That’s not to say that they don’t garner as much more interest than other senior members of the British monarchy, but sometimes it can be the wrong interest.”
It comes as Prince William and Kate Middleton are said to have accepted their 'broken' relationship with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
This report comes after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, alongside other members of the royal family, celebrated Kate's 40th birthday over the weekend.
Andrew Neil, former chair of GB News, spoke to Channel 5 documentary, ‘2021: The Queen’s Terrible Year’, revealing that Kate and William are “reconciled” to the “broken” relationship with Harry, reports the Daily Record.
