Reason why 'innocent picture' of Prince George was 'wake up call' for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Earlier this week (22 July), the royal family released a brand-new portrait of the second-in-line-to-the-throne, Prince George, to commemorate his 12th birthday.

Parents Prince William and Kate Middleton captioned the post: "Happy 12th Birthday to Prince George! [birthday cake emoji]."

The snap in question showed the Prince leaning over a gate, donning a khaki fleece gilet, which he'd paired with a check shirt.

With his arms crossed, Prince George can be seen with a cheerful smile reminiscent of his father's in his youth.

While the focus this week is on celebrating George's birthday, it's interesting to recall that photos of him have also attracted attention in the past.

In particular, there was once an 'innocent picture' from a few years back of the pre-teen that reportedly served as a 'wake up call' for his uncle and aunt, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, just days before their announcement that they were moving their lives across the pond.

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 US could have been in the works for a lot longer than people first thought, thanks to one key detail.

According to Morton, the image of 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, William, and of course, 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 royals, it also deepened an already worsening rift between Meghan and Harry and the family.

"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.

In an episode of The Mirror's Pod Save The King podcast, Morton further doubled down on his points, 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." he claimed.

"So they were thinking about a different direction of travel pretty early on."

Still, while the rumour mill around Meghan and Harry continues to swirl on, Harry himself said in May that he hopes for a reconciliation somewhere down the line as he opened up about his 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."