Queen told Meghan Markle she could continue acting but duchess 'didn't give it enough thought'

The Queen gave Meghan Markle and Prince Harry several options for different paths they could take within the royal family, including suggesting that the Duchess continued her successful acting career, an expert has claimed.

The couple admitted they struggled with life within The Firm before they quit their senior roles last year.

But now biographer Andrew Morton has claimed that the family "gave them the opportunity to go wherever they pleased".

Speaking on the Royally Obsessed podcast, he said: "They were given a degree of latitude. They were told 'here are your first class tickets, pick which country you want to go to, we're going to make you youth ambassadors for the Commonwealth'.

"In fairness to the royal family, in fairness to the Queen, she did give them that opportunity to go wherever they pleased.

"And also, they did say to Meghan if you don't want to embrace royal duties full time please be our guest and continue your acting career.

"Those opportunities were open to her."

However, Morton believes that Meghan and Harry didn't give the options enough thought, deciding instead to become full time working royals.

He explains: "I think neither of them gave it the thought they should have done. I think that famous warning from Prince William of 'steady on, think about what you're doing', that Harry bridled at, was probably meant more with affection.

"I think William understood more than Harry that becoming a member of the royal family is a tough gig. You think about Catherine Middleton. She's British, she's grown up with the traditions, obviously she was a commoner but she has a very sound and strong family."

Meghan didn't have any of that. She's American, she didn't have a clue about the royal family.

“In a way, Harry should have been a bit more careful of that and spent a bit more time with their engagement and their courtship. It takes a long time."

In the statement announcing they planned to step down from their senior royal roles, Meghan and Harry said they wanted to "carve out a progressive new role within the institution"

They pledged to continue supporting the Queen, and in their response to the Monarch's announcement that they would lose their royal patronages they said they would continue their roles of "service."