Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will no longer be full-time working members of the British royal family, Buckingham Palace announced on Saturday. That automatically means the former uke and Duchess of Sussex will be financially independent from the monarchy.
The former prince and his wife are have gained independence from the royal family. The young couple has retired as the working royals, being transformed themselves in commoners who will pay their own way in life as they embark on their own future.
Both Harry and Meghan have lost their rights to use their “Royal Highness” titles, the palace reiterated in an announcement. Queen Elizabeth II has made decision very quickly and satisfied her grandson’s demands to become independent.
Saturday Buckingham Palace’s announcement sought to end mess in the monarchy sparked earlier this month when Sussexes announced they wanted to reduce their official duties and spend more time in Canada.
Surprisingly, but Harry will remain a prince and the couple will keep their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they begin a new life split between North America and Britain. However, they will not take part in any future ceremonial events or royal tours.
Queen Elizabeth II is still the best crisis manager
The queen and senior family members met last week to discuss the crisis. For the long-reigning monarch, it wasn’t the first such a crisis, so, she made a hard decision quickly and in a proper way.
This week, during “constructive and friendly” discussions with Prince Charles and Prince William, the closest persons to the British throne, Queen showed the excellent skills of the crisis manager.
After couple of meetings, Harry, 35, and his American wife, the former actress Meghan, 38, became the commoners as they wished to be.
“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family,” Queen Elizabeth said in a statement issued by the palace, referring to the couple’s baby son.
Queen added she recognises the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life. Despite the warm words, the monarch had taken a firm and decisive line in regards to her grandson and his wife.
Harry, Meghan become financially independent from the royal family
After ‘abdication’, Harry and his family would no longer receive public money and that they would repay the cost of refurbishing their cottage in Windsor, which official figures show amounted to 2.4 million pounds.
It remained unclear what public funds would be spent on their security. Buckingham Palace declined to comment but said there was an independent process to determine public funding for security.
According to Buckingham Palace, the changes will come into effect in the spring of this year.
