Prince William feared a “Category 5 tantrum” was brewing when he realised Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had been quietly excluded from the Queen’s 2019 Christmas message, according to royal author Tina Brown.

The late monarch’s annual festive broadcast has long been a moment of reflection and unity, watched by millions in Britain and across the Commonwealth since George V delivered the first radio message in 1932. Yet the 2019 address stood out for its understated tone – and for a detail that royal observers believe spoke volumes about growing divisions within the family.

Although Queen Elizabeth II made no direct mention of the rift involving the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, attention quickly turned to the photographs arranged on her desk. Unlike the previous year, there was no image of Prince Harry, Meghan and their baby son Archie, an omission widely interpreted as a sign the couple were being pushed to the margins of royal life.

Writing in her book Palace Papers, former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown said Prince William was deeply unsettled when he noticed the Sussexes had been “edited out” of the carefully staged scene. Harry, who was in Canada at the time, was expected to spot the absence immediately. William, Brown suggested, knew his brother well enough to anticipate an explosive reaction.

Behind the scenes, tensions had been mounting since Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018. The couple were said to be seeking a new, more flexible role within the monarchy – often described as a “half-in, half-out” arrangement.

As the Daily Mail reported, the Queen’s seemingly subtle Christmas message would later be viewed as a quiet but significant indicator that the Sussexes’ departure from frontline royal duties was fast approaching, even as the monarch herself maintained a public tone of calm and continuity.

In October 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed they would be stepping back from royal duties for an extended period, citing the need for family time. Soon afterwards, Kensington Palace confirmed the couple had travelled to Canada, away from the intense glare of public life.

Harry and Meghan also chose not to join the Royal Family for their traditional Christmas gathering at Sandringham in Norfolk. Instead, they spent the festive period in Vancouver with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland. This decision further fuelled speculation about their future within the monarchy.

What was publicly presented as a temporary break would later turn out into a strategic “working vacation”, during which they began shaping the blueprint for their eventual departure from royal life, soon to be dubbed “Megxit“.

By the time Christmas Day arrived, fractures within the Royal Family were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore, and the Queen felt compelled to reassert her authority. Although Elizabeth II made no direct reference to either her son or her grandson in her televised address, royal observers quickly focused on what many believed was a deliberate visual message. The significance, Tina Brown argued, lay not in the words spoken but in the imagery on display.

“The subtext was all in the flotilla of carefully arranged family photographs positioned on her writing desk,” Brown wrote.

Viewers said that while a photograph of Harry and Meghan from their 2018 wedding had featured prominently during the previous year’s broadcast, the couple were notably absent when the Queen addressed the nation in 2019.

“The Sussexes had evaporated, their image excised as skilfully as Stalin would have done to an apparatchik out of favour,” Brown added.

According to the author, this was no oversight. Every element of the Christmas message, including the positioning of family photographs, was meticulously planned. The reshuffle, she suggested, was the Queen’s subtle but unmistakable way of signalling her dissatisfaction with her grandson’s conduct.

Brown also cited royal author Christopher Andersen, who claimed the monarch personally reviewed the photographs beforehand and declared they could all remain “except one”.

“Her Majesty pointed at a winsome portrait of Harry, Meghan, and baby Archie.

“‘That one, said the Queen. I suppose we don’t need that one.'”

The ex-Vanity Fair editor added that William “was said to have been appalled” when he noticed the missing photo. “He knew his brother well enough to predict a Category 5 storm brewing.”