Harry, Meghan ‘emphasized their distance from the royal family’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle "emphasized their distance from the royal family", claimed an expert.

During his conversation with Express, Professor Pauline Maclaran of Royal Holloway said: "Meghan and Harry’s involvement with the queen’s funeral has emphasized their distance from the royal family, even while the royals were trying to convey unity."

"Overall, [the Sussexes] were very much on the sidelines and they disappeared quickly after it.

"Now, they have just issued their photos from the trip to the U.K. that preceded the funeral and it’s hard not to see these photos as rivals to those just issued by Charles," the professor continued.

Meanwhile, Daily Mail’s Richard Kay expressed that King Charles III could have sent a message to Sussexes with the portrait.

"It surely can be no coincidence that the picture was taken when the couple [was] still in Britain and several days before they returned home to their children Archie and Lilibet.

"It must, therefore, be yet another signal that they will never again return to their central role in royal life," the expert added.