It’s official. Megxit has been solved, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been removed from their Royal duties and moved into the financially independent status they announced they were seeking just two weeks ago.
But what exactly changed? What was decided in those hours spent hammering out logistics behind the Palace walls with Queen Elizabeth II and co.?
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What will Meghan and Harry’s duties and titles and money look like going forward?
We have all the answers to your most asked questions in our handy breakdown (below)!
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What Are Their New Titles?
- Harry and Meghan WILL still be the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
This was one of the biggest things we were wondering, but it turns out the Queen chose not to strip Meghan and Harry of their duchy titles. And obviously Harry will always be a prince as he has been since birth.
What they are losing is the “HRH” titles, which means one can no longer accurately refer to either as His or Her Royal Highness. For those who follow the rules of Royal etiquette, this is a rather big deal.
The other big title loss for Harry is that he will no longer be the Captain General of the Royal Marines, the ceremonial head position he has held as part of his royal duties. This is likely going to be an emotional loss for Harry, who served in the Army before leaving in 2015 and has kept close ties to the military ever since.
Could Prince Harry Still Be King?
- Yes!
The line of succession has not changed. Despite his lack of Royal duties, Harry will remain the sixth in line for the throne.
Currently the line is Prince Charles, then Prince William, then each of Will’s children in order of age — Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis — and finally Harry. So obviously for Harry to become King would require some shocking course of events we cannot even fathom.
Importantly this also means baby Archie Harrison could still become king as well; he’s the seventh in line, right behind his father.
(In case you were wondering, even Prince Andrew hasn’t been removed from the line; he sits in eighth, followed by his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie.)
Will They Still Receive Public Money?
- Mostly no, but…
Buckingham Palace confirmed Meghan and Harry will no longer receive public funds. Moreover they will pay back over $3 million of taxpayer money spent on refurbishing Frogmore Cottage for them. They will retain the residence as their official UK home (though it’s been questioned whether Meghan intends to ever return for any meaningful length of time) and will start paying rent on the property.
However, when it comes to security it seems pretty clear the Queen is fine with non-working Royals continuing to receive assistance. While this has not been overtly confirmed, Her Majesty’s statement does say:
“Buckingham Palace does not comment on the details of security arrangements. There are well established independent processes to determine the need for publicly-funded security.”
That certainly appears to be justification for continued public funding for Harry and Meghan’s security. We imagine that goes for Canada as well, where they will be spending much of their time.
Will They Keep Their Royal Patronages?
- Yes!
For those unfamiliar with the concept, members of the Royal family are often named patrons of organizations, meaning they become a sort of public ambassador for the cause. Per the Queen’s statement Harry and Meghan will keep their patronages.
Harry is the patron of 16 organizations, including the Invictus Games — an annual event in which sick and injured armed services personnel compete in various sports — which he founded himself.
Meghan holds four patronages: the National Theatre, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, an animal charity called Mayhew, and a women’s charity called Smart Works.
Keeping their patronages means a lot of charitable work the couple will continue to do even as they take on new careers.
Is This Permanent?
- Not necessarily!
All of these changes are tentatively scheduled for Spring 2020, but according to Royal sources one of the results of the hours of negotiation was a review in one year’s time.
So theoretically in Spring of 2021 if Meghan and Harry aren’t happy with the changes and want to return to the fold and resume taking on Royal duties they will be able to do so. It certainly makes sense for the Royal family, who will have to take on the engagements being vacated by the Sussexes — particularly William and Kate Middleton. However, we can’t imagine after all this work and upheaval Harry and Meghan would actually turn around and say they were wrong.
We should note, certain changes will be irreversible; for instance the Royal Marines will have to choose a new Captain General, and that individual wouldn’t simply step aside for Harry to resume.
If YOU have any more questions, let us know in the comments (below)!
[Image via WENN/Avalon.]
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