Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's commercial deals prove the late "saw the dangers" of a hybrid role, a royal expert has claimed. It comes as Prince Harry issued a joint statement announcing his resignation from Sentebale amid a row between the charity trustees and chairperson Dr Sophie Chandauka.

Discussing the feud on T, Royal author Phil Dampier, said: "She [Queen Elizabeth II] saw the dangers of commercialising the Royal Family, combining a sort of hybrid model of doing royal jobs and cashing in with commercial stuff. And that's exactly the sort of thing that she was trying to avoid. That's exactly the thing that she told them not to do. And that's what happened with this polo match. She thought, the doctor thought that it was just going to be presenting the trophy and it was all going to be part of the charity.

"And all of a sudden he turned up with a crew and wanted to make it part of his programme."

after turning up at short notice and bringing her "very famous friend" Serena Williams, to a Sentebale polo match, according to

She also claimed that prior to the charity polo event in April 2024, Meghan confirmed she would not be attending. But she then arrived with her tennis legend friend announced.

Speaking to Sky News' Trevor Phillips, Dr Chandauka recalled the events of the chaotic event, telling him: "We would have been really excited had we known ahead of time [Meghan was coming], but we didn't.

"And so the choreography went badly on stage because we had too many people on stage. The international press captured this, and there was a lot of talk about the Duchess and the choreography on stage and whether she should have been there and her treatment of me."

A viral video shows an awkward moment at the polo game when Ms Chandauka moved from beside the duke to Meghan's side, ducking under the trophy, seemingly when instructed by the Duchess to do so.

A source close the Netflix production team has described the claimed version of events as "misleading" and that video of Meghan and Dr Chandauka on stage has been "misrepresented" and "weaponised", the reports.

Prince Harry stepped back as a working royal alongside Meghan Markle in 2020 and

The senior royals announced on Instagram their plan to "step back" from their duties and become financially independent.

A meeting shortly followed, instructed by the late Queen, which was dubbed the 'Sandringham Summit'.

Queen Elizabeth II requested that Harry, Prince William, and then-Prince Charles convene at her country home in Norfolk to deliberate details surrounding the Sussexes' exit plan.

The solution wanted by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, dubbed "half in, half out" was eventually ruled out, with the Sussexes stepping down from all royal duties and relinquishing any patronage linked to the Royal Family.