Prince Harry and Meghan Markle did Prince William a favour by ‘jumping ship’, says Andrew Morton

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have done Prince William a favour by ‘jumping ship’ and leaving the royal family, according to royal author Andrew Morton.

The Duke, 37,  and Duchess, 40, of Sussex announced their decision to quit as working members of the Royal Family in January 2020. They moved into their £11 million mansion in the Californian enclave of Montecito in July that year. 

Now Morton – best known for penning Princess Diana’s authorised biography – has also authored the recent book ‘Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy: A Hollywood Princess’.

The writer, who recently updated the tome with more details about the former royal couple, spoke about about the pair’s move to America – telling salon.com the couple would have been pushed out in the future anyway. 

According to Andrew Morton, Prince William ‘saw [himself] as being the [leader] of a slimmed down monarchy’

Describing their decision to step back from royal duties as ‘jumping ship’,  Morton says the couple did Prince William and Prince Charles a favour, with the two future kings both having plans to slim down the monarchy.

Charles has spoken about his wishes to reduce the royal family to a few key members on numerous occasions.  

Referencing these plans, Morton described the ‘irony’ of the situation, suggesting that at some point the pair would have been ‘asked to walk the gangplank’ if they hadn’t already made the choice to leave themselves. 

He added that while under these plans, Harry and Meghan would have been able to play a minor role, as the Cambridge’s children – Louis, and Charlotte, and George –  grew older, the Sussexes would have been pushed further down the pecking order. 

According to Andrew Morton, Prince Harry ‘was in conversations with Oprah Winfrey, secret conversations with her, way back in December 2018’ 

‘It’s rather like Prince Andrew, who was at one point second in line for the throne. Now he’s way down the order. Meghan and Harry have got a generation to really make an impact. Then afterwards, it’ll be, “Oh, Meghan who?”,’ he said.

The author also spoke about the couple’s move to California, and the way they have tried to portray it publicly. 

He believes that Harry and Meghan like to foster the narrative that they came to Los Angeles without any kind of specific plans in place. 

However, Morton feels there is evidence to suggest that the Sussexes had been planning a move to Hollywood for some time.

Prince Charles has been open about his plans for a ‘slimmed down’ monarchy – which would see fewer working royals – and see Harry and Meghan’s role become more supportive

In line with Morton’s thoughts are reports that Harry secretly met with Oprah as far back as 2018 to discuss making his series about mental health.

Additionally, it is widely understood that Harry and Meghan met with now-defunct streaming service Quibi to discuss potential projects in January 2019 – a year before they officially stepped down from royal duties.   

Morton also shared his prediction for what will happen to the Sussexes children, with their second child baby Lilibet especially potentially poised to make an impact, as she was born in the US.

He predicted that if Lilibet is christened in the States, then Americans will ’embrace’ her as an ‘American princess’.