Their Final Exit from Royal Life
As Meghan Markle and Prince Harry embrace life in California with 22-month-old son Archie and a second baby on the way, another chapter has officially closed. On Feb. 19 Buckingham Palace announced that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex “will not be returning as working members of the Royal Family . . . all are saddened by their decision.” The statement added that Harry’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth, 94, decreed that in stepping away from royal work “it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.”
The move was expected a year after the couple first left the U.K., but Meghan, 39, and Harry, 36, countered with a statement of their own, saying, “We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.” The pushback reportedly ruffled feathers at the palace. “There is a difference between philanthropy and public service,” a royal source says of the Queen’s view. “Philanthropy is great—earning money and doing good works—and should be encouraged. ‘I’m not here for myself, I’m here for you’—that’s public service.” (Others say the couple would not have pushed back had the palace statement simply referred to “royal” service.) Still, adds the royal source, “there is a very strong family bond.”
For their part, the couple were “disappointed” not to be able to keep their royal patronages and Harry’s military appointments, says a source close to them, but “they respect the decision that was reached.”
‘THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PHILANTHROPY AND PUBLIC SERVICE’
—A ROYAL SOURCE