Queen’s snub prompted Harry and Meghan to quit royal family

A key decision by the Queen made Harry feel as though he was “being erased” from his own family, sparking his decision to flee royal life.

Queen Elizabeth’s choice to eliminate a photo of grandson Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and baby Archie led to the couple quitting the royal family, according to a new book.

Brothers And Wives: Inside The Private Lives of William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan claims that the British monarch had an aide move a portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their eight-month-old son, Archie off camera before she recorded her 2019 holiday broadcast, reports the NY Post.

The book quotes a source explaining that the queen “looked over the tables where the photographs she had so lovingly selected were arranged.

“All were fine but one, [the queen] told the director.” Then she pointed to the Sussex picture and said: “That one, I suppose we don’t need that one.”

There was no sign of Harry and Meghan among the framed pictures during the Queen’s 2019 address. Picture: Steve Parsons/Pool/AFP

A spokesman for the queen told The Post: “We don’t comment on books of this kind as to do so risks giving it some form of authority or credibility.” A spokesman for Harry and Meghan did not respond to requests for comment.

The queen’s alleged holiday decision came as Prince Harry had chosen to spend Christmas with his wife, son and mother-in-law, Doria Ragland in Canada rather than the UK.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the 2021 Salute To Freedom Gala in NYC earlier this month. Picture: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

When Harry’s older brother, Prince William, watched the queen’s televised message with other close relatives, he was aghast to see the photo missing from the line-up.

According to the insider, the second in line to the throne confided in his wife, Kate, that his brother was likely to be “terribly upset.”

A spokesman for William and Kate had no comment on the book.

Andersen writes that the slight caused Harry to confide in a pal that he “felt as if he, Meghan and Archie were being erased from the family.”

Within a month, Harry and Meghan negotiated the final terms of their escape strategy — known as “Megxit” in the press — from royal duties and decamped to North America.

This article originally appeared in the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.