It’s official – Harry and Meghan are on their own
Prince Harry and wife Meghan have officially made the transition from senior members of Britain’s royal family to, well, it’s unclear. International celebrities? Charity patrons? Global influencers?
The royal schism the couple triggered in January by announcing that they would step down from official duties, give up public funding, seek financial independence and swap the United Kingdom for North America became official yesterday.
The move has been made more complicated and poignant by the global coronavirus pandemic, which finds the couple and their 10-month-old son Archie in California, far from Harry’s father Prince Charles – who is recovering after testing positive for Covid-19 – and Harry’s 93-year-old grandmother, the Queen.
‘‘As we can all feel, the world at this moment seems extraordinarily fragile,’’ the couple said in a final post on their now-mothballed SussexRoyal Instagram account.
It is less than two years since
Harry, who is sixth in line to the British throne, married American actress Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle in a lavish ceremony watched by millions around the world.
Soon, the couple began to bristle at intense scrutiny by the British media, which they said tipped into harassment. They decided to break free, in what Harry called a ‘‘leap of faith’’ as he sought a more peaceful life, without the journalists who have filmed, photographed and written about him since he was born.
Harry has long had an uncomfortable relationship with the media, which he blames for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi.
His unhappiness increased after he began dating Markle, then the star of TV legal drama Suits. In 2016, he accused the media of harassing his thengirlfriend, and criticised ‘‘racial undertones’’ in some coverage.
It is clear Meghan’s upbeat Californian style rankled with sections of Britain’s tabloid press, which is both insatiable for royal content and fiercely judgmental of the family members.
The couple – who are keeping their titles, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but will no longer be called Their Royal Highnesses – had hoped to keep using the Sussex Royal brand in their new life. But last month they announced they wouldn’t seek to trademark the term because of UK rules governing use of the word ‘‘royal’’.
The couple plan to launch a non-profit organisation for their charitable activities, and Harry will continue to oversee the Invictus Games, the Olympicsstyle competition he founded for wounded troops. But for now, the couple’s office said they wanted the world to focus ‘‘on the global response to Covid-19.’’
The couple will also need to earn money to help pay for a multimillion-dollar security bill.
Some royal historians warned that Harry and Meghan could struggle to find a fulfilling role. Comparisons have been drawn to King Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936 to marry divorced American Wallis Simpson. The couple lived the rest of their lives in luxurious but lonely self-imposed exile from Britain. –AP