A royal expert spoke out this week to claim that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were “edged out” of the British royal family because their “rock star” status was starting to “overshadow” the Queen, Prince William, and Kate Middleton.

Robert Lacey, author of the new book “Battle of Brothers,” told Good Morning America that Harry was the victim of “cruelty” from the royal family because he was the “spare” heir. Lacey explained that this caused Harry to resent the royal family, a situation that only worsened when he and Meghan started to be “edged out” by aides who thought they were taking too much attention away from the other royals.

“The British royal system can be very cruel, and it’s particularly cruel to the spare,” Lacey said. “Harry came to realize in his teens that he was typecast as the court jester, the number two.”

Lacey went on to say that the royal family has a long history in mishandling the younger siblings of the heir to the throne, citing Princess Margaret and Prince Andrew as examples.

“They start off in the public eye as playmates, as co-stars with the heir,” Lacey said. “And what’s their destiny? To be pushed down the line of succession as babies come along, marriages come along. There was trouble with Margaret. There was trouble with Andrew. And now we have the same thing with Harry.”

The expert added that Harry’s resentment over being the “spare” only worsened as he got older, but his whole life changed as soon as he met Meghan. Lacey described Meghan as a “megawatt woman” who “inspired” and “transformed” Harry as she urged him to take control of his life. Thanks to her, the royal author said that she and Harry became the “rock stars” of the royal family, something that did not sit well with aides.

“I think Meghan’s a force of nature that maybe Buckingham Palace hasn’t worked out how to cope with. She is a woman of great conviction,” Lacey said, adding that he believes there is a “clique” of aides and royals”‘who’ve got it in for Meghan” and tried to suppress her star power.

Harry and Meghan shocked the world earlier this year when they stepped down as senior members of the British royal family. They have since moved to Santa Barbara, California, where they recently purchased a lavish mansion.