On Wednesday in the UK, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they will be “stepping down” as senior members of the Royal Family.
Apparently, within the family itself, the news isn’t being received well and now the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William have ordered their teams to find a “workable solution”.
Returned Today Show host Karl Stefanovic isn’t impressed. Post continues after video.
A Buckingham Palace source says the senior royals have asked aides to work “at pace” with governments and Harry and Meghan’s household, and an outcome was expected to take “days, not weeks”.
The Queen and other members of the family were said to be left “hurt” by Harry and Meghan’s decision to issue a personal statement, which outlined their future lives as financially independent royals who will divide their time between the UK and North America.
The PA news agency understands the royal family will talk to multiple governments, which suggests US and Canadian officials may be involved.
Vanity Fair understands that the matter of the Sussexes’ HRH titles is “up in the air” as courtiers deal with the fallout, with royal sources telling the publication that “nothing has been ruled in or out”.
The Daily Mail is reporting Prince Charles and Prince William received a copy of the statement just 10 minutes before it was released.
Over the festive period, The Evening Standard says Charles told his son to come up with a thought-out plan for his wish to spend more time in Canada and America.
When Harry put forward a draft proposal, he was told time was needed to consider its implications, particularly funding.
The Queen agreed to Harry's request to meet when he returned from Canada, but the Duke was told his grandmother would not discuss his proposals before he had talked them through with his father.
The Standard says Harry then ignored instructions from the Queen to not make any announcements this week, with the Queen reportedly finding out about the news after watching it on TV.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman last night said discussions on their decision to step back from the Royal Family were “at an early stage”, and that "these are complicated issues that will take time to work through,” reported news.com.
In The Sun, a senior royal source is quoted as saying: "Their statement was not cleared with anyone. It breaks all protocol. This is a declaration of war on the family."
"There is fury over how they’ve done this without any thought for the implications for the institution. The Queen is deeply upset. The Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge are incandescent with rage.
“Courtiers can’t believe it. There are so many unanswered questions but they’ve just up and done it without a thought for anyone else.
“The plan was there to discuss it and work out a way that works for everyone in the family," they added.
The Sun believes the couple rushed the statement out, because of plans by their publication to break the story first.
Their announcement, which was released on Instagram, followed by a roll-out of a slick new website apparently secretly set up 10 months ago, announced changes that have never been attempted before in the Royal Family.
"After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the statement reads.
"We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.
"We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages.
"This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity," it says.
The developments reveal the divisions within the heart of the British monarchy, which has already been rocked by Prince Andrew's disastrous television interview about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
A series of commentators have strongly criticised Harry and Meghan's decision, with public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski saying "it does feel like a royal couple in exile".
The Sun says the couple have spent the last year quietly building up a commercial team in Hollywood, including Meghan's business partner and PR company.
A source told them: "Make no mistake, Harry and Meghan intend to make a lot of money and start taking commercial deals as soon as possible."
Vanity Fair reports that together they have a plan to become the royal version of the Beckhams and potentially earn millions.
The Queen's ex-press spokesman Dickie Arbiter told Good Morning Britain, the Queen will be feeling more angry than after Prince Andrew's disaster BBC Newsnight interview.
He also spoke on Sky and said, "It seems to be a succession of doing things their own way, which is the wrong way."
Vanity Fair reports that the Queen will expect her grandson to go and see her and explain himself, but the publication says he is yet to do that.
With AAP.
Feature Image: Getty.
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Top Comments
I feel like the queen would be within her rights to disown them. They have basically said her role means nothing to them and they don’t want the same life but they want to be supported. They didn’t even tell her first. She’s a grandmother first, queen second and I can imagine how hurt she would be over this. And disappointed
"I feel like the queen would be within her rights to disown them"
Can the Queen (or King of the time) actually do this sort of thing and disown them and strip their sovereignty - I know very little about this topic, I was curious though.
Apparently so from what I’ve read
This is a great move. I fear if Harry and Meghan hadn't made this decision they would have suffered psychologically at the hands of the press. I wonder if Meghan already is. Some of her comments in the documentary hint that she has depression/anxiety, and even PND following Archie's birth. They are protecting themselves and their child. You can see that, for Harry especially, he doesn't want a repeat of what his mother went through. I don't think the royal family has been very supportive of the constant criticism Meghan has faced. They were happy to throw her in when she was making polished speeches from day 1 but not happy to support her when she started copping criticism. Most of which is untrue. I really don't think Harry and Meghan have asked for too much in their request for privacy. They were happy to do the public events, work with charities etc... but they don't want their life at home or baby Archie targeted. I hope that this part-time royals arrangement works out for them and that the royal family wakes up a bit. Meghan is right when she says the 'stiff upper lip' can be damaging.