Prince William reportedly used a significant Royal photograph to send a potent message to his younger brother, Prince Harry.

The photo, taken in December 2019, featured the late Queen with then-Prince Charles, Prince William and young Prince George, her three heirs, reports the Mirror.

At the time, The Times reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex felt slighted by the image, interpreting it as a sign of their exclusion from royal life.

Royal historian Robert Lacey suggests that William saw an opportunity in this picture. In his book ‘Battle of Brothers’ (via Us Weekly), Lacey alleges that while the concept for the photo originated with then-Prince Charles, who was keen to promote his vision of a ‘slimmed-down monarchy’, William was eager to use it to communicate a message to Harry.

“According to insiders, this formal photograph, taken in the Buckingham Palace Throne Room a week before Christmas 2019, was the idea of Prince Charles, anxious to promote his cause of the ‘slimmed-down monarchy’. Palace sources have also let it be known that the plan of depicting the direct line of royal succession was enthusiastically supported by Prince William, who was not saying anything for the record – but who wanted to send his younger brother a message.”

The rift between Prince William and Prince Harry is no longer a secret, but there was a time when the two brothers were believed to be as close as ever. However, signs of strain began to appear with the onset of Harry’s relationship with Meghan Markle, with William being one of those expressing concerns that things were moving too quickly.

Despite this, the couple proceeded to tie the knot in May 2018 and welcomed their son Archie the following year. By June 2019, however, Harry and Meghan announced their departure from the joint charity they shared with Kate and William, sparking rumours.

In October, everything came to a head. During ITV’s documentary ‘Harry and Meghan: An African Journey’, Harry was questioned about the alleged feud and his response was revealing.

“Part of this role and part of this job, and this family, being under the pressure that it’s under, inevitably, you know, stuff happens,” he admitted. “But look, we’re brothers, we’ll always be brothers. And we’re certainly on different paths at the moment, but I’ll always be there for him, as I know he’ll always be there for me.”

He went on to say: “We don’t see each other as much as we used to because we’re so busy, but you know, I love him dearly. The majority of this stuff [in the press] is created out of nothing, but you know, as brothers, you know, you have good days, you have bad days.”

However, just three months later, Harry and Meghan announced their decision to step down from the Royal family. They subsequently gave a revealing interview to Oprah Winfrey, in which they alleged racism within the Royal family, and have since made numerous criticisms of the monarchy, whether through their Netflix series or Harry’s book Spare.