TL;DR: 

• Photographer Misan Harriman released a never-before-seen photo of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Oct. 3.
• A portrait of King Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton was released two days earlier.
• According to royal expert Katie Nicholl, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were “making a point” with the timing of the photo’s release.
• “If that was just a picture they were going to release, they’d have released it then,” Nicholl said.

A newly released portrait of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is much more than “just a picture,” according to an expert. Ahead, learn why author and royal expert Katie Nicholl calls the photo from the couple a “pretty bold move” and a “reminder” in the wake of a royal portrait.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s portrait was unveiled shortly after an official royal portrait

On Oct. 3, photographer Misan Harriman revealed a never-before-seen portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

In the image shared on Twitter, Meghan stands in front of Harry as they just barely hold hands. Per Harriman’s caption, he snapped the photo “moments before” the 2022 One Young World Summit opening ceremony.

Meanwhile, two days previously, the British royal family released an official portrait on Instagram. In it, King Charles III and Camilla Parker Bowles stand next to Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Smiling for the camera, the foursome wears black. The reason? According to the caption, photographer Chris Jackson took the photo before a Buckingham Palace reception for heads of state in London for Queen Elizabeth II’s Sept. 19 funeral.

The timing of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s portrait is telling, expert says

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of Harry and Meghan’s portrait, it’s the timing that says a lot, according to Nicholl.

“It’s all in the timing, isn’t it? It does sort of have a sense of ‘anything you can do we can do too,’” she told Entertainment Tonight.

“It was quite polarizing, because you had, just two days before, that incredible image of the king and the queen consort, and the new Prince and Princess of Wales,” Nicholl continued. “It said, ‘This is the future of the monarchy.’

“Of course, so notable by their absence, was Harry and Meghan,” the New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown author said. “So it didn’t surprise me to see an image of them so soon after.”

“But it was a pretty bold move, as sort of a reminder that actually there is this alternative royal court across the pond.”

Expert says it’s not ‘just a picture’

“This was a photograph that was taken several weeks back when they were over in Manchester,” Nicholl said, referring to the trip Harry and Meghan cut short due to Queen Elizabeth’s death on Sept. 8

“You would’ve thought, if that was just a picture they were going to release, they’d have released it then,” she continued.

Harry and Meghan attended the 2022 One Young World Summit on Sept 5. There they took part in a private round table on gender equality before Meghan gave a speech at the opening ceremony.

“This is clearly the Sussexes just making a point,” Nicholl said. “We’re visible, we’re bold, and we’re not going anywhere … we’re doing ‘royal’ a different way.”

Another expert thinks the royal family’s new portrait sends a message to Harry and Meghan

Harry and Meghan aren’t the only ones sending what some perceive as a message. Daily Mail Diary Editor and royal expert Richard Kay thinks the royal family’s doing the same.

“It surely can be no coincidence that the picture was taken when the couple were still in Britain and several days before they returned home to their children Archie and Lilibet,” he wrote in the Daily Mail. “It must, therefore, be yet another signal that they will never again return to their central role in royal life.”