Harry and Meghan have no other option but to step back
The Duke has said he is “taking a leap of faith” in stepping back from being a senior royal, adding: “There really was no other option.”
Speaking at an event on Sunday evening, Prince Harry said he and Meghan had hoped to continue serving the Queen without public funding.
“Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible,” he said.
“I’ve accepted this, knowing that it doesn’t change who I am or how committed I am.”
Prince Harry
The prince said he had found “the love and happiness that I had hoped for all my life” with Meghan, but he wanted to make it clear they were “not walking away.”
“The UK is my home and a place that I love, that will never change,” he said.
Prince Harry said it was a sign of the pressures he was feeling that he would “step my family back from all I have ever known” in search of “a more peaceful life.”
Earlier this month, Prince Harry and Meghan said they intended "to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent."
On Saturday, Buckingham Palace announced that from the spring they will stop using their HRH titles and withdraw from royal duties, including official military appointments.
And on Monday Prince Harry was pictured at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, where he held several private meetings, including with Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Reception at Buckingham Palace
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hosted an evening reception at Buckingham Palace for heads of government, ministers, business leaders, and members of NGOs attending the summit.
It was the first time the duke and duchess had hosted a reception for world leaders on behalf of the Queen.
Prince Harry did not attend, saying he is believed to have left on a flight for Canada from Heathrow airport.
Prince William and Catherine were joined at the reception by senior royals including Princess Royal and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
A powerful force
During his address, the prince said he would always have “the utmost respect for my grandmother, my commander in chief”.
Prince Harry and Meghan have both spoken about the difficulties of royal life and media attention, with the duke saying he feared his wife would fall victim to “the same powerful forces” that led to his mother’s death.
Sentebale
He told the audience at the reception for Sentebale, which he founded to continue Princess Diana’s legacy in supporting those with ■■■ and Aids, that he felt they took him “under your wing” after she died.
“You’ve looked out for me for so long, but the media is a powerful force, and my hope is one day our collective support for each other can be more powerful because this is so much bigger than just us,” he said.
Deal Finalized
As part of a deal finalized on Saturday between the Queen, senior royals, and the couple, Harry and Meghan agreed they will no longer formally represent the monarch.
However, the statement by Buckingham Palace said they would continue to maintain their private patronages and associations.
Harry’s Speech
Prince Harry said in his speech that he and Meghan “will continue to lead a life of service”.
“I will continue to be the same man who holds his country dear and dedicates his life to supporting the causes, charities and military communities that are so important to me,” he said.
Chairperson of Sentebale
Johnny Hornby, chairman of Sentebale, said the new arrangements would not affect the prince’s work for the charity. “We don’t need from Sentebale’s perspective his title, we just need his time and his passion,” he told
Analysis by Jonny Dymond (Royal correspondent)
There are two big messages in this speech. The first is to deal with the “Meghan myth” the idea that the Duchess of Sussex is at the root of the couple’s desire to lead a different life.
Harry talk about his Decision
Harry speaks of “many months” of discussions over how to deal with the challenges of “many years”; he’s making it clear that he was unhappy with his role long before Meghan entered his life
The Decision isn’t Easy
He talks about the decision that “I” made, a decision “I” did not make lightly. He stresses that this was his call, though it was clearly one that they came to together.
The second message is that he wanted to continue in some sort of a royal role; “unfortunately,” he says “that wasn’t possible.”
Both sides the Sussexes and the Palace thought at the beginning of negotiations that such a half-in, half-out role might be possible. But the tension between a royal life and an independent life was too great; the contradictions and possible conflicts of interest were too many.
Harry may or may not believe that to be true. But he wants to let people know that his desire, at least, was to continue to serve.
Much of Prince Harry’s funding comes from his father’s estate, the Duchy of Cornwall.
Prince Charles and Public accounts Committee
Mr. Baker called for Prince Charles to say how he will support Harry and to publicly guarantee there would be no loss to the taxpayer through a reduction in his tax liability.
The former MP also called for the Commons public accounts committee to investigate royal finances.
Journalist and royal author Robert Hardman said the agreement with the Queen meant the duke and duchess’s Sussex Royal brand, which they applied to trademark last year, is not “sustainable”.
“The whole thrust of what has been agreed with the Queen is they won’t be trading on their royal credentials,” he said.
In Prince Harry’s speech, posted on the couple’s Instagram account, he said that when he and Meghan were married “we were excited, we were hopeful, and we were here to serve”.
"For those reasons, it brings me great sadness that it has come to this.
“The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly,” he said.
“It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges and I know I haven’t always got it right, but as far as this goes there really was no other option.”
Prince Harry’s worst nightmare comes to life as he is a force to deal with a disturbing past.
When Netflix barred Prince Harry from having a say in the next season of The Crown, he has been left to deal with the wounds of his past.
After the Duke of Sussex came forth commenting how he will not let the Netflix series show him and Meghan Markle’s royal saga, the streaming giant blocked him from commenting on the matter.
This means that the Duke will have to relive the trauma of Princess Diana’s death while a young Prince Harry is likely to be portrayed on screen.
Netflix has not given “any control of the company’s brand editorial policies or strategy,” said an insider. "Basically, that means The Crown’s storyline, plots, or subject matter cannot be altered by the Sussexes.
"And for Harry, there is no way his traumas and colorful moments in his youth can be ignored given how Peter Morgan has written about much of the Royals’ scandal,”
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle unwelcome by Canadians
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have incurred the anger of citizens all across Canada for reportedly using the country as a halfway house in-between royal duty.
Leading newspapers The Globe and Mail bashed the couple for using Canada as a halfway house.
In the column, the paper added, but this country’s unique monarchy, and its delicate yet essential place in our constitutional system, means that a royal resident the prince is sixth in the line of succession is not something that Canada can allow. It breaks an unspoken constitutional taboo.
"Princes are not shipped over here when no practical duties can be found for them on the other side of the Atlantic.
“Canada welcomes people of all faiths, nationalities, and races, but if you’re a senior member of our Royal Family, this country cannot become your home.”
Another piece also highlighted the anger among citizens. It wrote, “They reign from a distance. Close to our hearts, far from our hearts.”