Event that left King 'apoplectic' proved compromise with Harry and Meghan never on cards

When announcing their ambition to step back from full-time royal life in the UK in 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry reportedly hoped that they could find a compromise when it came to their royal duties. Although the couple wanted to relocate to the US, which they did, they also wanted to continue carrying out some royal duties for the monarchy, while having the opportunity to be financially independent.

Although this may have been briefly considered, it is believed that this compromise was never going to work for Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, as a similar experience before of royals working for the Crown while pursuing personal projects had ended in disaster. As reported by royal author Katie Nicholl, Prince Edward - the King's brother - used to have his own production company called Ardent, which he balanced along with royal duty.

However, this ended up causing problems for the monarchy, especially when the Prince's production company broke the careful deal the Palace had in place with the press, which was to leave Prince William alone during his time at university in Scotland in 2001.

While the press respected this, Edward - William's uncle - and his company broke the embargo to film footage around William's university St Andrew's in September 2001 for an American TV series called The A-Z of Royalty.

This was believed to have infuriated the King, who was said to be "apoplectic" and furious at his brother, which was overheard in a tense phone call.

As reported by the Daily Mail, this incident, which Edward apologised for, also resulted in him stepping down from the company in 2002.

In her book The Making of a Royal Romance, Nicholl said that it was this situation which proved to Charles that members of the family could not do royal duty and pursue independent careers, which was essentially what Harry and Meghan initially wanted.

Nicholl said: "It was his (Charles') opinion that if Edward ever represented the Royal Family, he could not have commercial interests and this story perfectly illustrated why."

The late Queen was also reportedly sceptical about the idea of a member of the Royal Family carrying out duties for the Crown while pursuing personal interests.

It was widely reported that Queen Elizabeth, who was on the throne when Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal life, was not supportive of the "half-in, half-out" approach that the couple wanted.

This resulted in them leaving life as senior royals completely.