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Palace Letter Blindsides Harry, Meghan Over Royal Status
(MENAFN) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle found themselves caught off guard by a newly issued letter from King Charles reaffirming their position as non-working royals, according to media reports Tuesday.
A representative for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the BBC that the couple "were a little surprised not to have been told about this in advance."
That account was complicated by royal sources, who said Harry and Meghan had actually been informed about the letter — sent Monday afternoon — before it became public knowledge, per the report.
Issued Monday on the King's behalf by the lord chamberlain, a senior palace figure, the letter made clear the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain barred from using the titles "His and Her Royal Highness" and continue to hold status as "private citizens."
According to palace sources, distribution of the letter extended to Prince Harry's team, several government departments, military officials, and lord lieutenants — the King's representatives at the local level — along with government personnel who typically help organize royal engagements and visits.
The timing follows the couple's return to Britain on Aug. 26, bringing along their two children, seven-year-old Prince Archie and five-year-old Princess Lilibet — a homecoming that arrives six years after Meghan, born Markle, and Harry gave up their roles as senior working royals to build a new life in California.
Central to the letter was confirmation that the terms set in 2020, when the Sussexes formally left royal duties — the so-called Sandringham Agreement — continue to govern their status. Those terms specifically prohibited a "half-in and half-out" model that would have let the couple pursue commercial ventures while still functioning as working members of the family.
"It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the Sovereign, and are no longer working members of the Royal Family," the letter read.
It went on: "The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity."
A representative for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the BBC that the couple "were a little surprised not to have been told about this in advance."
That account was complicated by royal sources, who said Harry and Meghan had actually been informed about the letter — sent Monday afternoon — before it became public knowledge, per the report.
Issued Monday on the King's behalf by the lord chamberlain, a senior palace figure, the letter made clear the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain barred from using the titles "His and Her Royal Highness" and continue to hold status as "private citizens."
According to palace sources, distribution of the letter extended to Prince Harry's team, several government departments, military officials, and lord lieutenants — the King's representatives at the local level — along with government personnel who typically help organize royal engagements and visits.
The timing follows the couple's return to Britain on Aug. 26, bringing along their two children, seven-year-old Prince Archie and five-year-old Princess Lilibet — a homecoming that arrives six years after Meghan, born Markle, and Harry gave up their roles as senior working royals to build a new life in California.
Central to the letter was confirmation that the terms set in 2020, when the Sussexes formally left royal duties — the so-called Sandringham Agreement — continue to govern their status. Those terms specifically prohibited a "half-in and half-out" model that would have let the couple pursue commercial ventures while still functioning as working members of the family.
"It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the Sovereign, and are no longer working members of the Royal Family," the letter read.
It went on: "The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity."
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