Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘Look Like They’re Trying to Replicate Their Royal Lives’ With Latest Move, Royal Expert Says

by Wendy Michaels | More Articles: Royal family

One royal expert is taking aim at the timing of the release of new Prince Harry and Meghan Markle photos. According to Daniela Elser, the Sussexes have an “unfortunate habit” when it comes to releasing new pics.

Meghan Markle wearing red outfit, Prince Harry wearing a military uniform
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry | Simon Dawson/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
New Prince Harry and Meghan Markle photos were released after latest King Charles portrait
Photographer Misan Harriman released photos he took of Harry and Meghan at the One Young World summit, potsing them on social media on Oct. 3.

One photo features Meghan, decked out in a red outfit, standing squarely and facing the camera with a serious expression while Harry stands at an angle behind her. The other photo is a black and white profile view of the Sussexes as they look off in the same direction, holding hands.

In a News.com.au article, Elser pointed out the interesting timing of the photos. “Harry and Meghan decided to put these glamorama, power-couple PR pictures out only 48 hours after Buckingham Palace released the first official image of King Charles, Camilla, the queen consort and William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales,” she wrote.

Elser explained how this could be a coincidence but that this kind of timing has happened before.

“Perhaps we could chalk up these two lots of photos going into circulation so close to one another to simple coincidence if not for the fact that this is not the first time a palace release has been followed by some sort of headline-grabbing Sussex move. Or even really the second.,” she noted.

Elser pointed out how a photo of Queen Elizabeth delivering her Christmas address alongside photos of family members was published in British papers on Dec. 23, 2019. Harry and Meghan were noticeably absent from the queen’s desk photos.

The Sussexes released their Christmas card the following day. They followed it up with a photo five days later of Harry and Archie.

On January 3, the palace released a photo of the queen, then Prince Charles, Prince George, and Prince William. Harry and Meghan followed it up with big news. “Days later the couple landed back in the UK and within two days they lit the fuse on Megxit, announcing to the world they were fed up with the status quo and had decided they wanted ‘to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,’” Elser wrote.

The timing of the Sussexes’ new photos is familiar, expert says
Elser provided her take on Prince Harry and Meghan’s newest photos, saying it “feels like something of a slightly pitiful attempt to drag the spotlight back onto themselves.”

While she admitted the photos “are truly beautiful,” she noted, “But the question I am left with is, just what are Harry and Meghan trying to prove?”

Elser continued, “For two people so willing to criticize the firm when a microphone is nearby, in the years since their exit, they have remained oddly committed to sticking to the tried and true royal playbook.”

The expert pointed out how the couple appear to be “trying to replicate their royal lives” in some way.

“Despite having left the strictures of the firm behind for a new free life where they can do whatever they fancy, Harry and Meghan’s quasi-official engagements make it look like they are trying to replicate their royal lives, a practice which extends to them grandly putting out photos of themselves as though they were heads of state and not two podcasters with the same official status as the members of Little Mix,” she wrote.

Elser also looked at “another Sussex pattern,” asking, “Why is Meghan so often in the foreground of their photos and Harry perched behind like an adjunct?”

Elser also said it’s “curious” that hte Sussexes “left the royal family to forge their own exciting new path and to blaze a thrilling trail and yet instead it looks like they are unable to move on and like they feel like they are still in competition with the palace.”