Prince Harry, Meghan stepping back as senior members of the royal family

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle announced Wednesday they will be stepping back as "senior members" of the royal family. Melissa Duggan reports.

By News Staff

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have announced that they will be stepping back as senior members of the royal family.

In an post on Instagram Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said the decision came after “many months of reflection” and that they will be carving out a “progressive new role within this institution.”

They went on to say that they will be working to become financially independent “while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.”

The couple said they plan to balance their time between the United Kingdom and North America “continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages.

Buckingham Palace released a statement in response to the couple saying it’s “complicated.”

“Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through,” the statement read.

Harry, 35, is a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II and is sixth in line to the British throne.

Before marrying Harry in 2018, the duchess was the American actress known as Meghan Markle and a star of the TV show “Suits.” The royal couple has a baby son Archie, who was born in May 2019.

Although as an actress and human rights advocate the duchess was accustomed to media attention before her marriage, she has made no secret of the fact that the transition to the level of celebrity faced by Britain’s royal family was difficult.

Last year, Harry lashed out at the British media for its treatment of his wife, accusing the media of hounding her the way they did his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a 1997 car crash while trying to elude paparazzi.

Not surprisingly, Canadian cities are high on the list of possibilities, especially given the couple’s decision to spend Christmas and New Year’s in the Great White North.

Markle spent seven years living in Toronto while filming the TV series, “Suits,” and was named the promotional face of the long-established wardrobe retailer Reitmans, for which she designed a capsule collection, and the Christian charity World Vision Canada.

Harry, too, has displayed a fondness for Toronto during his visits, which included the time the city hosted his beloved Invictus Games for wounded military personnel in September 2017.

The decision to celebrate a Canuck Christmas and ring in a Maple Leaf-tinged New Year reportedly took Harry, Meghan and baby Archie to the other end of the country – British Columbia’s majestic mountains and clear waters are on full display behind Prince Harry’s New Year’s greeting on Instagram.

Their first official duty upon their return to the U.K. was a visit to Canada House in London, where Harry reportedly joked about a soggy vacation on Vancouver Island, but gushed in a statement about “the warm Canadian hospitality and support they received during their recent stay in Canada.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support.” – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex For more information, please visit sussexroyal.com (link in bio) Image © PA

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report

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