Celebrities | Jul 27, 2020 09:30 AM EDT

Prince Harry Heartbreak: Duke Of Sussex The Real Mastermind Of Megxit?

By Staff Reporter

Earlier this year, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made the bombshell decision to step down as senior members of the royal family -- a move that truly rocked the British monarchy to its core.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex received massive backlash for turning their backs on the royal family, and people suspected that it was Meghan who brainwashed the 35-year-old Harry to stay away from his family.

However, recent revelations claim that even before meeting the 38-year-old former "Suits" actress, Prince Harry is already willing to leave the Firm because he felt left out, especially after his older brother, Prince William, married Kate Middleton.

Prince Harry's Struggle

In the Sussexes' bombshell biography, "Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and The Making of a Modern Royal Family," it was revealed that Prince Harry felt frustrated and overshadowed by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge even before he met Meghan.

The book claimed that the sixth heir to the throne initially wanted to be out of the spotlight, so he dedicated himself to the military.

According to authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, meeting the fierce Meghan gave Prince Harry the courage to pursue his plan to turn his back against the royal family -- hence the sensational "Megxit."

The authors said an insider revealed that Prince Harry felt like a "spare part" in the family after he was continuously labeled as the "awkward plus one" of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

"They'd turn up at premieres, and there was this sense that he felt a bit like a spare part. Long before Meghan, he wanted to change things," the insider said.

Tension That Triggered Prince Harry

Prince Harry's eagerness to leave the royal family was further strengthened when he reached his breaking point during his May 2018 wedding with Meghan Markle. The book claimed that the tension arose after Prince William asked his younger brother "Are you sure about this?" before he walks down the aisle.

On top of that, Prince Harry felt that the Cambridges were not making an effort to welcome Meghan into the family when she arrived in the United Kingdom.

"He felt at once used for their popularity, hounded by the press because of the public's fascination with this new breed of royal couple, and disparaged back within the institution's walls," read an excerpt from "Finding Freedom."

The Sussexes also felt "pushed out" by the Cambridges, who left them bombarded with negative publicity while saying nothing to protect or defend them.

Things escalated quickly when the Sussexes felt the need to break a royal protocol, directly going to Queen Elizabeth II to talk about the change they wanted to do before getting off from royal duties and flying to Canada last year.

The book asserted that Prince Harry and Meghan finally decided to quit as senior royals while in Canada. The couple tried setting a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in January 2020 to talk about "Megxit," but she was unavailable until the end of the month, leading them to announce their decision without warning.