What to Know
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moving back to the UK doesn’t mean they’re suddenly going to be involved in all things royal family again, and King Charles is making that abundantly clear.
Charles has released a letter clarifying Harry and Meghan’s roles (or, in this case, lack thereof), and apparently, the couple was caught off guard by it, even though not being working royals is exactly what they wanted.
The letter says there is “no change” to Harry and Meghan’s royal status.
In a letter that was released to media at the direction of King Charles, including People, the palace claimed to have received a “number of requests” about what the deal with Harry and Meghan is now that they’re UK residents again.
According to the king himself, there is no deal — there has been “no change” to their status, despite their move across the pond.
“It follows that there is no change to the current status of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their styles as His and Her Royal Highness remain in abeyance and are not used,” the letter said. “The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity. In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests.”
A spokesperson said that Harry and Meghan were “a little surprised” they didn’t know about the letter before it was made public.
Just hours later, a spokesperson for the couple told the BBC that they “were a little surprised not to have been told about this in advance.”
However, that may not fully be the case. As palace sources told the outlet, they did see the letter before it went public, but only an hour in advance, so it sounds like Harry and Meghan didn’t feel they had enough time to absorb it before the whole world read it.
People reported that sources close to Meghan and Harry said that their team received the letter at 1:59 p.m. on Monday and sent back questions 20 minutes later. By the time they were actually able to reach Harry, who was in a meeting at the time, it was too late — by 3:11 p.m., the letter was out there.
The letter doesn’t say anything that Harry and Meghan didn’t already know, though.
All it seems to do is remind anyone who might be curious that Harry and Meghan will remain “private citizens,” just as they asked to be when they walked away from royal life and moved to the US back in January 2020.
As outlined in the letter: “This position, distinct from the State and Royal duties undertaken by the working Royal Family, and with the personal latitude it brings the couple in respect of financial independence and protection of their privacy as they would wish, will continue to be fully respected.”
So what part of that did Meghan and Harry actually need to change?
