MEGHAN Markle and Harry have released a statement in response to Buckingham Palace’s announcement yesterday that they will drop royal duties and their HRH titles.
Within minutes of the memo, the royal couple updated their new SussexRoyal website – but they still called themselves Their Royal Highnesses.
Meghan and Harry have released a statement on their SussexRoyal website following the announcement they are ditching their HRH titles
Their post read: In line with the statement by Her Majesty The Queen, information on the roles and work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be updated on this website in due course.
We appreciate your patience and invite you to explore the site to see the current works of Their Royal Highnesses.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed last week they were stepping down as royals and moving to Canada – with the Queen demanding “final decisions” to be made “in the coming days”.
The couple will now be known as Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and “will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family”.
The statement on the SussexRoyal page still called the couple ‘Their Royal Highnesses’
Princess Diana, Harry’s mum, lost her HRH title when she divorced Prince Charles and her title was then re-styled as Diana, Princess of Wales.
Prince Harry will also lose his Captain General of Marines, Hon Air Commandant, Commodore-In-Chief and Youth Ambassador titles.
It is understood that in return for dropping the use of the HRH titles, there will be no oversight on how the couple earn money, meaning they can make whatever commercial deals they want.
The Sussexes will continue to maintain their private patronages and associations, but they “no longer formally represent The Queen”.
The news was announced last night that the royal couple will stop royal duties
In the statement on Saturday it was announced the royal couple will repay the 2.4million spent on Frogmore Cottage and it “will remain their UK family home”.
It is understood Prince Charles will continue to privately fund for the upkeep of their home, but it is not clear if it will be through his Duchy of Cornwall coffers.
This new arrangement is expected to be rolled out this spring, meaning they will be carrying out royal engagements and Meghan will be returning to the UK until that time.
The palace did not comment on the details regarding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s security arrangements, but said there “are well established independent processes to determine the need for publicly-funded security”.
A royal expert told HOAR Online that the British taxpayer could be the ones footing the bill.
Meghan is currently in Canada and it is expected that Harry will join her
The Queen added she was pleased that “a constructive and supportive way forward” had been found and reiterated that Prince Harry, Meghan and baby Archie “will always be much loved members of my family”.
Her Majesty wished them a “happy and peaceful new life” after mentioning the Duchess separately.
The Queen said: “I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex got their way in their bid to break away from the Royal Family at a crisis summit at Sandringham on Monday but the Queen made it plain she is deeply upset they are quitting.
The couple are now going through a “period of transition” that will see them “create a new life as a young family” and spend time in both Canada and the UK.
Monday’s crunch summit, which lasted almost four hours, took place between the Queen, Prince Charles, and brothers William and Harry.
