Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan will officially lose their HRH royal titles and will no longer receive public funding for their royal duties, according to statements released by Queen Elizabeth II and Buckingham Palace on Saturday, January 18.
“Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family,” the 93-year-old monarch’s statement began. “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved members of the family. I recognise 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.”
She concluded, “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. It is my whole family’s hope that today’s agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.”
Buckingham Palace also released a statement detailing the coming changes for the Duke of Sussex, 35, and the Duchess of Sussex, 38.
“The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family,” the statement reads. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared their wish to repay Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home.”
The statement added, “Buckingham Palace does not comment on the details of security arrangements. There are well established independent processes to determine the need for publicly-funded security.”
The couple’s transition from royal life is expected to be completed in spring 2020.
According to Harper Bazaar‘s royal correspondent, Omid Scobie, Harry and Meghan’s post-royal lives will take a major shift. Although the couple will retain their patronages, three of Harry’s military patronages are expected to end. Another title Harry will lose is Commonwealth Youth Ambassador. However, Scobie reports that Harry’s father, Prince Charles, will continue to financially support the couple.
Despite Harry and Meghan’s transition into private life, the couple still plan to support the queen and will attend royal engagements such as Trooping the Colour.
Whether the duo still plan to use the name “Sussex Royal,” which they filed to trademark at the U.K.’s Intellectual Property Office in June 2019, has not been announced.
The details of the new arrangement follow the couple’s bombshell announcement on January 8 that they planned to step back as senior members of the royal family.
Harry and Meghan added that they planned to become “financially independent” and that they would split their time between the U.K. and North America, giving their 8-month-old son Archie 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.”
Hours later, the queen released her own statement saying that she “would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family,” but that “we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”
Harry attended a face-to-face meeting with the queen, Charles, 71, and Prince William at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, on Monday, January 13, to discuss their royal futures. Meghan, meanwhile, returned to Canada to reunite with Archie, who had remained in the country with a nanny after the family’s six-week Christmas break.
