Ahead of their controversial move to the US five years ago, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle apparently had a massive 'wake up call' when a new picture of Prince George was released at the time.
Having recently lost his appeal to have his taxpayer-funded security reinstated, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have been firm on keeping their children, Archie and Lilibet, out of the spotlight.
Part of the reason for this is that Harry said he 'didn't want history repeating itself', as he was no longer entitled to security for his kids after stepping down as a senior royal in 2020, in comments likely referencing the tragic death of his mum, Princess Diana.
Speaking of the recent court case, Harry described no longer having security in the UK as his 'worst fear', admitting it's devastating he 'won’t be able to show my children my homeland' for fears over his family's safety.
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But of course, for his niece and nephews George, Charlotte, and Louis, the story couldn't be more different, with the youngsters having been in the public eye since they were born and regular snaps of the family uploaded to social media.
And it was one snap featuring Prince George in particular from a few years ago that apparently served as a 'wake up call' for Meghan and Harry, just days before their bombshell announcement that they were taking their lives across the pond in a move that would be harshly branded as 'Megxit'.
In his book Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, royal expert Andrew Morton outlined how the image in question affected the couple, how they allegedly felt the family was 'conspiring against them', as well as claiming that the big move to the States could have been in the works for a lot longer than people first thought, thanks to one key detail.
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According to Morton, the image of Prince George - which was released back in January 2020 - ended up solidifying the couple's decision to step away from the royal family for good.
The picture was captured in the throne room of Buckingham Palace, and showed the late Queen Elizabeth alongside the three generations of royal heirs; the then-Prince Charles, Prince William, and of course, Prince George, who was just seven years old at the time.
"To mark the start of a new decade, a portrait has been released of Her Majesty The Queen and Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge, and Prince George. The portrait was taken by Ranald Mackechnie in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace," the caption on the royal family's official Instagram account read.
Morton claimed that while the innocent picture - like many other official portraits through history - illustrated the future of the royal family, it also deepened an already worsening rift between Meghan and Harry and the family.
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"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," he claimed.
Morton double down on his points in a recent episode of The Mirror's Pod Save The King podcast, where he alleged that rumblings of Meghan and Harry's decision to pack up their lives for the States were happening a lot sooner than many may have thought.
"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," he alleged.
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Still, while the rumour mill around Meghan and Harry continues to swirl on, Harry himself said he hopes for a reconciliation down the line as he opened up about his recent court loss to the BBC.
"I would love reconciliation with my family. There's no point in continuing to fight anymore," he confessed.
"Life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has. He won't speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile."
Topics: Meghan Markle, Prince George, Prince Harry, Royal Family
Chloe Rowland