Prince Harry sometimes felt like a "spare wheel" when attending royal events with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Before Harry, 35, met his wife Duchess Meghan, 38, he often joined forces with his brother Prince William and sister-in-law Duchess Catherine for public engagements but it has been claimed that Harry wasn’t entirely happy with the situation.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl told Entertainment Tonight that Harry felt like a "spare wheel" and added: "At points [in time], I even heard him complaining that he felt like the gooseberry, the third one along at the date. He never quite fitted in."
And Katie believes Meghan helped to give Harry the confidence to "break free from that trio dynamic".
She explained: "I think Meghan has very much been the catalyst in giving him that confidence to break free from William and Kate, and to break free from that trio dynamic, which was at times convenient, but actually wasn’t really what he wanted."
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan quit as senior members of the British Royal Family earlier this year and royal reporters, Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, authors of new biography ‘Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family’, believe Meghan helped Harry to "go against the norm".
Scobie told PEOPLE: "Meghan emboldened Harry. He needed someone by his side that is strong enough to weather the same storms, but also someone who wasn’t afraid of breaking the rules and going against the norm. What we see now is a couple doing things their own way."
Durand added: "What has struck me is Harry’s commitment to put his royal birthright aside and use his voice to make a difference. In Meghan he found a partner in that."
And the book revealed that Harry was eager to distance himself from life in the royal spotlight.
It states: "In Harry’s case, he was very much on board with distancing himself from the public eye. It’s why he gravitated to the military, avoided the pomp as much as he could, and didn’t give his child a title."
After quitting as senior royals, Harry and Meghan moved to Los Angeles with their 14-month-old son Archie and the pair have signed a deal for speaking engagements through the Harry Walker Agency.