Sad Harry says there was no other way

PRINCE Harry has given an extraordinary defence of his wife, Meghan Markle, as he explained his decision to step down as a royal was his own and that he had “no other option”.

In his first speech since his bid to become financially independent was rejected, the Duke of Sussex said leaving the royal family would bring him “great sadness”.

“What I want to make clear is we’re not walking away,” Harry said.

“Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth and my military associations — but without public funding, unfortunately that wasn’t possible.”

In the speech at a private reception for a charity in London, he went to great lengths to distance Meghan from claims she was responsible for the split.

“Once Meghan and I 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,” he said.

He said Britain would always be a place he loved and blamed the media for his departure.

The defiant stance comes as Harry patched up his relationship with his brother William after a two-year feud, but is still at war with his father.

Harry will be reunited soon with Meghan and ninemonth-old Archie, who have stayed in Canada after their six-week break there became a semi-permanent move.

Netflix is among the partners looking to work with Harry and Meghan, who plan to set up their own TV production company, it was reported.