Prince Harry and Meghan to ‘step back’ from royal duties
LONDON » In a year of gut punches to Britain’s royal family, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, delivered a jarring blow of their own Wednesday, announcing that they would “step back” from their official duties.
It was an extraordinary retreat by the popular prince and his American wife, who had grown increasingly isolated within the House of Windsor since their wedding in 2018.
In a statement, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as they are also known, said they planned to divide their time between Britain and North America and would “work to become financially independent.”
“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the couple said in a post on their Instagram account. “It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment.”
The move continues the convention-defying ways of Harry, who enthralled millions of Britons and angered some others when he decided to take an American actress, with a biracial background, as his bride.
Buckingham Palace issued a terse two-line statement Wednesday evening, suggesting that the couple’s announcement had caught the royal family off guard, if not totally blindsided it.
“Discussions with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage,” the statement said. “We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.”
Among those issues was how a partial self-exile would work. It also raises questions about how they would support themselves, since British taxpayers now fund their security.
The couple did not say where in North America they planned to live, but royal watchers said they expected it to be Canada, not the United States.