Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were convinced that the "entire [royal] institution" was against them, because of an "unspoken code," an author has claimed in an updated book.
Before announcing their infamous departure from the UK, the couple believed The Firm had it in for them, after the Queen released an official photo showing off her heirs.
The photo, which was shared publicly at the beginning of 2020, showed the Queen standing with son Prince Charles, her grandson Prince William and our youngest future king, Prince George, in Buckingham Palace' s Throne Room.
On the face of it, the sweet snap is simply lining up the future of the British Monarchy, but royal author Andrew Morton claims it caused upset behind palace walls.
"The royal couple suspected that the entire institution was conspiring against them. As they saw it, the evidence was all around them," he writes, in an updated version of Meghan: A Hollywood Princess.
"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 the Queen cancelled a meeting with Harry, in which he'd wanted to discuss his royal future, Morton claims.
"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," he writes.
"At the last minute the meeting was postponed. Harry suspected classic internal politics, his family concerned that anything the Queen agreed during informal conversations would be used by Harry as a negotiating tactic."
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It was days later, on January 8, when Harry and Meghan made their shock announcement that they would be stepping back from senior roles within the royal family.
Taking to social media to tell the world, the couple said they'd spent "many months" reflecting over their decision, adding that they had plans to "carve out a progressive new role within [the] institution" while becoming financially independent.
Since then, Harry and Meghan have spoken publicly about their decision to leave, first when Harry appeared on The Late Late Show with James Cordon and then in their shock interview with Oprah Winfrey.
While touring around LA on an open top bus with Cordon, Harry said: "It was never walking away. It was stepping back rather than stepping down. It was a really difficult environment, as I think a lot of people saw. We all know what the British press can be like.
"It was destroying my mental health. I was like, this is toxic. So I did what any husband and any father would do, I need to get my family out of here. But we never walked away.
"As far as I'm concerned, whatever decisions are made on that side, I will never walk away. I will always be contributing. But my life is service, so wherever I am in the world it's always going to be the same thing."
Harry and Meghan's subsequent interview with Oprah sent shock waves across the world, as they spoke about Meghan's poor mental health during her time at the Palace and claims an unnamed royal asked inappropriate questions regarding Archie's skin tone.
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