As the Prince and Princess of Wales continue to suffer self-inflicted blows to their public image following the photo editing scandal that has been dubbed ‘Kate-gate’ by some, you might be forgiven for thinking that, for once, this particular controversy could in no way be affiliated with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who currently live 5,400 miles away in Los Angeles.

But, you would be wrong, because The Sun newspaper ran a front page story on Wednesday with the headline, ‘Harry and Meghan enter Kate pic row’. The paper claimed that the couple’s 2019 Christmas card, which featured them and baby Archie in front of a Christmas tree, as well as a photograph to announce Meghan’s second pregnancy in 2021, had been edited – just like the now infamous Mother’s Day photograph which the Princess of Wales has this week admitted to editing.

The image – which first appeared on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s official Instagram account on Sunday morning –  shows the 42-year-old sitting on a chair, dressed casually in a navy jumper, jeans and boots, at their home in Windsor, surrounded by her three children Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte. But, shortly after its release, the photo was recalled by photo agencies including Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters, which put out a ‘kill notice’ to halt their distribution of the picture because of apparent manipulation. Then, in an unprecedented move, the Princess of Wales wrote in an Instagram story,  ‘Like many amateur photographs, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.’

So how has this scandal become anything remotely to do with Harry and Meghan? Well, on Monday a story in the New York Post claimed to have spoken with a source close to the couple who said they believe they would have been ‘annihilated’ if they had made the same Photoshop mistake as Kate – but the rather spirited source also added that the Duchess would not have slipped up due to her ‘freakish attention to detail’. They told a reporter for the Page Six column, ‘The same rules do not apply to both couples. This isn’t a mistake that Meghan would ever make. She has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.’

Enter, The Sun, whose reporters counter-claimed that they have found evidence to the contrary, and used their article to demonstrate what they suggest are edits to photos put out by Harry and Meghan.

Whether that is true or not, we may never know. What we do know is that it was only a matter of time before the former Royal couple were somehow drawn into this scandal – despite never publicly commenting on it, nor being in communication with Prince William or Kate, as far as we know, for some time. As the dust appears to somewhat settle around the Mother’s Day pic, or Kate-Gate, it was inevitable that a Harry and Meghan chapter of this latest scandal might open as the headlines and conspiracies search for new angles and ways of breathing new life into the story, so often are there names mentioned in relation to any story pertaining to the royal family which they sensationally exited four years ago. They were, for example, publicly criticised for not wishing the Princess of Wales well after her abdominal surgery in January (something that they would have surely been criticised for if they had done it, too).

Harry and Meghan could barely have done much more to remove themselves from the latest round of PR blows suffered by the Firm, first as social media users and news outlets clamoured for news of the Princess of Wales’s whereabouts while she was in recovery from surgery (despite the palace maintaining that she would not be out and about til Easter) and then turned the Mother’s Day photos into one of the most memed and joked about images of 2024 so far.

Having chosen to walk away from the Royal Family in March 2020 and firmly distanced themselves from them with a series of bombshell interviews, docuseries and Harry’s memoir Spare (all shedding a somewhat shocking light on things which had so quietly played out behind palace doors over the years), the couple have now forged their own path in Los Angeles with their children Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2. They have been focusing on charity work with Archewell and Invictus as well as broadening their production projects for Netflix and working on Meghan’s podcast.

Since news of King Charles’s treatment for cancer broke in January, however, the couple have found themselves drawn back into the whirlpool of Royal speculation more and more, with various commentators suggesting that Prince Harry could be preparing to step back into a reduced Royal role in order to support The Firm during one of its most strained periods yet. Neither Harry nor the Palace has commented on this however, although Harry did say during an interview with Good Morning America that he intended to spend more time with his family this year – and had rushed to see the King as soon as the news broke of his cancer diagnosis. ‘I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could,’ Harry told the news show in Whistler, as they toured the site of next year’s Invictus Games. ‘Look, I love my family. The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that.’

Harry, who has declined to comment further on his father’s diagnosis, added that he hopes to see Charles again soon, saying, ‘I’ve got other trips planned that will take me through the U.K., or back to the U.K., and so I’ll stop in and see my family as much as I can.’ Harry had not seen his 75-year-old father since the king’s coronation last May at Westminster Abbey.

Being drawn into the somewhat uncomfortable scandal surrounding Kate’s recovery from surgery and the ensuing conspiracy theories and gaffes may not be the kind of return to royal life Harry might have envisioned, however – particularly as Harry and Meghan have now become collateral in a story in which they’ve played absolutely no part. At this point, it remains to be seen if Harry and Prince William can mend their relationship – and tabloid tittle tattle won’t be the remedy they need to do so.