Recent photos of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been dubbed “more beautiful to look at” than royal family portraits. While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released many portraits through the years, snapshots taken by one photographer, in particular, have a royal commentator saying they make royal family portraits appear “outdated.”
In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death in Sept. 2022, Harry and Meghan have offered a few glimpses of themselves via photos. They include images taken by photographer Ramona Rosales.
Meghan posed for Rosales as part of a photo shoot for an October 2022 Variety interview where she talked about post-royal life, her Archetypes podcast, and more.
As for Harry, Rosales snapped his photo for the cover of his highly-anticipated memoir, Spare. The book, which now has a January 2023 release date, will feature a close-up portrait of Harry on the cover.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex underscored just how different their path is from the royal family with their recent portraits. As Royal fashion expert and celebrity stylist Miranda Holder told Newsweek, their images are a far cry from typical royal portraits.
Harry and Meghan’s images taken by Rosales are “evocative, emotional and visionary, telling us far more about their subjects than the more formal, poised counterparts of which we are more familiar,” she said.
“These new images are far more engaging, more beautiful to look at and make the others look staid and outdated,” Holder continued before concluding it may signal “the beginning of a new, more positive direction for the Harry and Meghan PR machine.”
Prior to Harry’s Spare cover reveal and Meghan’s interview, the couple offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a Sept. 5 event.
Taken by Misan Harriman, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared backstage in a previously unseen image from the 2022 One Young World Summit opening ceremony.
In it, Meghan, who delivered a speech at the event, can be seen standing in front of Harry while the two hold hands. What raised some eyebrows at the time of the photo’s Oct. 3 release was what had happened just days earlier.
On Oct. 1, the royal family released an official portrait of King Charles III, Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton. The foursome posed for the photo on Sept. 18, the day before Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, at Buckingham Palace.
“It’s all in the timing, isn’t it?” royal expert and author Katie Nicholl said after the release of Harry and Meghan’s photo.
“It was quite polarizing, because you had, just two days before, that incredible image of the king and the queen consort, and the new Prince and Princess of Wales,” she explained. “It said, ‘This is the future of the monarchy.’”
“Of course, so notable by their absence, was Harry and Meghan,” the New Royals: Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy and the Future of the Crown author added. “So it didn’t surprise me to see an image of them so soon after. But it was a pretty bold move, as sort of a reminder that actually there is this alternative royal court across the pond.”