Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
One’s deadlocked
Talks on Harry and Meghan’s roles as royals stall despite wish of Queen for a solution in days
TALKS to allow Prince Harry and Meghan to become part-time royals have hit a deadlock.
Palace aides and Government officials have been working round the clock to come up with proposals of how the couple will live outside the family after the Queen demanded a solution “in the coming days”.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex resigned from their roles as senior royals last week in a move to split their time between Canada and the UK and earn their own money in the corporate world.
Government mandarins have been locked in discussions with their counterparts in North America and been ordered to come up with proposals immediately.
The Mirror yesterday revealed the couple’s bid to break free from The Firm could take up to six months to finalise.
Talks on their future have stalled on their ability to strike big-money deals with corporate giants. But the Queen’s senior advisers fear the Sussexes could cheapen the monarchy’s reputation if strict rules aren’t imposed from the start.
An announcement had been widely expected yesterday but it did not materialise.
A source close to the negotiations said: “The talks have hit a deadlock. There was huge pressure to produce something for the end of the week but it couldn’t be done.
“The Queen said it herself, these are complex issues and she is exactly right.
“Any announcement made in due course will be a halfway house, enough to suggest an agreement has been made between Harry, Meghan and the rest of the family – but in reality the exact details will take months to sort out. In the meantime
Harry will go to Canada to be reunited with Meghan and Archie and sit it out to decide how his future actually looks with his future involvement with the family.” Meanwhile, after fleeing to Canada to leave Harry to deal with the fallout, Meghan has carried out two private visits since returning to the province of British Columbia, where the Sussexes spent six weeks over Christmas.
Photographs have emerged of the Duchess driving to Victoria International Airport near Vancouver sometime on Thursday apparently to pick up a friend.
There is speculation the couple will not be spending any meaningful time at their Frogmore Cottage home, which is close to Windsor Castle, after their staff were redeployed to other roles around
NEGOTIATIONS HIT A WALL AS
the estate. Royal accounts published last summer revealed £2.4million of taxpayers’ money was spent on Meghan and Harry’s grade II listed home, turning five properties into a single residence for the couple and their baby son.
The amount spent was heavily criticised by the organisation Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, but all fixtures and fittings for the home were paid for privately by the duke and duchess.
There is speculation over whether Thursday’s Rugby League World Cup draw was Harry’s last engagement as a senior royal, but Commonwealth Day – on March 9 – will be the real test.
The day is a major event in the royal calendar that features all leading members of the monarchy, so if Harry and Meghan are not present it signals a life away from frontline duties has begun.