Queen Elizabeth II may have given Prince Harry and Meghan Markle the last push they needed to leave the Royal Family.

In 2019, the Sussexes spent Christmas in America with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, and were left “furious” after they were “sidelined” by the Queen during her Christmas broadcast.

Archie’s great grandmother had family portraits on display on her desk for the broadcast, but none of them featured Harry, Meghan and their son. Their portrait was “notably absent”.

In Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s book Finding Freedom, the authors claim the royals were “conspiring against them” with the move.

It reads: “One didn’t have to look further than the family photos displayed during the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day. In the Green Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace, where the Queen delivered her address, viewers glimpsed photos of the [Waleses] and their children, Charles and Camilla, Prince Philip, and a black-and-white image of George VI.”

They suggested that this was “yet another sign that they needed to consider their own path,” prompting them to step down as senior working royals in 2020.

Three months later, Harry and Meghan moved to Montecito, California where they currently reside with their kids Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.