Harry and Meghan did William a favour by 'jumping ship' as he would've 'asked them to walk the gangplank'

Prince Harry's rift with Prince William has only worsened after he left as a senior member of the British royal family, but a royal expert believes that the Duke did his elder brother a huge "favour" with his exit.

Andrew Morton, the author of "Diana: In Her Own Words" who has also released a book on Harry's wife Meghan Markle titled "Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy: A Hollywood Princess," says that the Sussexes would have been pushed out from the monarchy in the future anyway. In a recent conversation with Salon.com about the couple's exit as working royals in January 2020, Morton said it was inevitable and they lessened the burden on Prince Charles and Prince William by "jumping ship" on their own.

Morton noted that Prince Charles's plans about slimming down the monarchy are well-known, which means that the number of working royals would be reduced in the future. As a part of these plans, Harry and Meghan would also have been asked to "walk the gangplank" at some point. They would have been able to play a minor role until the Cambridge children- Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis grew older and took over their responsibilities, but they would have been pushed further down the pecking order after that.

Morton described their royal exit as "ironic," explaining, "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?'"

On the other hand, Morton noted that Harry and Meghan's move to Los Angeles could not have been unplanned like they always claim. The author claimed that their meetings with David Furnish about "Pearl," with Jeffrey Katzenberg for Quibi, and secret conversations with Oprah Winfrey in December 2018 suggest they had been planning the move for a very long time.

"I think that the narrative that they'd like to project is that they arrived in Los Angeles with a couple of suitcases and a cuddly toy and that was it. I think the reality is that they've been planning this move to Hollywood for some time, not necessarily where they were going to live. So whilst the plan wasn't fully worked out, I wouldn't suggest that they were babes in the woods," he said.