LONDON (AP) – Buckingham Palace confirmed on Friday that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will not return to royal duties and Harry will relinquish his honorary military titles – a decision that makes the couple’s formal and final separation from the Royal Family .
When Harry and Meghan moved away from full-time royal life in March 2020, dissatisfied with media control and the strictness of their roles, it was agreed that the situation would be reviewed in a year’s time.
Now it has happened, and the palace said in a statement that the couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have verified “that they will not return as members of the royal family. “
He said that Queen Elizabeth II spoke to Harry, aged 36, and confirmed that “by moving away from the royal family, it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties arising from a public service life ”.
The palace said Harry’s appointment as captain general of the Royal Marines and titles with other military groups would revert to the queen before being distributed to other family members.
Harry has served in the British Army for a decade, including on the Afghan front line, and maintains close ties with the military. He founded the Invictus Games competition for injured troops, which first took place in 2014 at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
He will also have to step down as patron of the Rugby Football Union, Rugby Football League and London Marathon Charitable Trust.
Meghan, 39, will be removed from her role as patron of the UK National Theater and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
“While everyone is saddened by their decision, the duke and duchess remain much-loved family members,” the palace said in a statement.
American actress Meghan Markle, former star of the legal drama TV “Suits”, married Queen Harry’s nephew at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son, Archie, was born a year later.
In early 2020, Meghan and Harry announced that they were relinquishing their royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media towards the duchess, who identified as biracial.
The couple agreed not to use the title of “Royal Highness” or to receive public funds for their work, although at the time it was unclear whether those decisions would be valid.
He retains his titles of duke and duchess, and Harry is still sixth on the throne. Harry and Meghan now live in Santa Barbara, California and are expecting their second child. The couple recently announced that they will talk to Oprah Winfrey for a TV show to air next month.
They continue to have a strained relationship with sections of the British media. Earlier this month, Meghan won a legal victory in a lawsuit against the publisher of Mail on Sunday, when a British judge ruled that the newspaper had invaded her privacy by publishing part of a letter she had written to her estranged father.
The news of their breakup with the palace comes as Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip, 99, is in a hospital in London, where he was hospitalized on Tuesday after feeling ill.
A spokesman for the couple responded to suggestions that Meghan and Harry were not devoted to duty.
“As evidenced by the work done over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service in the UK and around the world and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented, regardless of their official role.” said the spokesman in a statement.
“We can all live a working life. The service is universal. ”