https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7902593/Harry-Meghan-LOSE-HRH-titles-REPAY-2-4million-public-cash.htmlPrince Harry and Meghan Markle quit royal life COMPLETELY: Couple drop HRH titles will REPAY £2.4m spent on Frogmore Cottage and won't receive any more taxpayers' cash as Queen says they remain 'much-loved family members'
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are to be known as Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
The couple will repay the £2.4million of taxpayers' money spent on renovating their Frogmore Cottage home
They will be free to make whatever commercial deals they want but say they will uphold monarchy's 'values'
The announcement tonight marks the conclusion of talks with senior members of the family and royal aides
By James Gant and Harry Howard and Rory Tingle For Mailonline
Published: 18:34, 18 January 2020 | Updated: 20:45, 18 January 2020
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to completely give up Royal life after a Megxit deal was sealed, Buckingham Palace announced tonight. The couple will no longer use their HRH titles and will repay £2.4million of taxpayers' money spent on renovating their Frogmore Cottage home. The couple, who will be known as Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will stop carrying out royal duties from the spring. The announcement tonight marks the conclusion of talks about their future after days of wrangling with senior members of the family and royal aides to thrash out a deal. It effectively means Harry and Meghan have got their wish to pursue an independent life in North America where they can set their own agenda and make money how they choose. However, they have pledged to 'uphold the Queen's values'. Her Royal Highness, who took control of the crisis that threatened to permanently damage the monarchy, praised Meghan for swiftly becoming a part of the family and thanked the couple for the work they had done, saying she was pleased they had found a constructive way to move forward. In her statement, the Queen said: 'Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family. Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much-loved members of my family. 'I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life. I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and I am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family. It is my whole family's hope that today's agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.'
A statement from Buckingham Palace read: 'The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are grateful to Her Majesty and the Royal Family for their ongoing support as they embark on the next chapter of their lives. As agreed in this new arrangement, they understand that they are required to step back from royal duties, including official military appointments. They will no longer receive public funds for royal duties. With the Queen's blessing, the Sussexes will continue to maintain their private patronages and associations. While they can no longer formally represent the Queen, the Sussexes have made clear that everything they do will continue to uphold the values of Her Majesty. The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared their wish to repay Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home. 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. This new model will take effect in the Spring of 2020.'
The Duke and Duchess' new website sussexroyal.com has been updated following the Queen's statement, saying: 'In line with the statement by Her Majesty The Queen, information on the roles and work of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be updated on this website in due course.'
Their new titles mirror the styling given to Harry's mother Diana after her divorce when she was no longer allowed to use HRH. She was known as Diana, Princess of Wales. Despite the official statements saying they would no longer be funded by the taxpayer, it is understood Harry will still be reliant on the Bank of Dad with Prince Charles bankrolling him from the Duchy of Cornwall. He currently receives around £2.3million a year. Other key questions remain. Harry and Meghan's security needs will still have to be met in the announcements they refused to divulge who would pay to keep them safe or how much it would cost. But estimates have ranged between £1million to £7million. Canada is likely to have to pick up a sizeable chunk of the bill. But the official statements do leave several key questions unanswered over Harry and Meghan's future. The future of the couple's new website venture is unclear. It is not known whether they will hang on to the 'Sussex Royal' name if they are no longer officially part of royal life. They were quick to update the website tonight, but it still described them as 'Their Royal Highnesses'. Prince Harry had been forced to delay flying back to Canada to be reunited with Meghan and baby Archie while the negotiations continued. He has not seen them in almost a fortnight. The Queen was seen with a steely expression behind the wheel of her Land Rover at Sandringham on Saturday afternoon, as the final touches were put on the Megxit deal. She had ordered courtiers to hammer out a plan 'in days, not weeks' for a stripped-back Royal role for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Meghan and Harry have already begun a transition phase of living in Canada and the UK. The duchess is in the Commonwealth country with son Archie where the Sussexes spent six weeks over the festive period. The move was agreed by the Queen, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge following the Sussexes unprecedented statement released earlier this month saying they wanted to step back as senior royals and become financially independent. Royal expert Penny Junor said the new arrangement was 'the best possible outcome and an outcome which will actually avoid catastrophe'.
She said: 'I think it is the best possible outcome and an outcome which will actually avoid catastrophe. The country was so divided about this and so angry and so upset, so I think it was all a big mess and it was getting nastier by the day.'
The announcement from the palace on Saturday confirmed that the duke and duchess will continue their private patronages and associations with the Queen's blessing. Ms. Junor added that it would have been 'tragic' if the pair had to give up their patronages, particularly if Harry was made to leave the Invictus Games after founding it. 'They're hanging onto their patronages which I think is absolutely terrific because they both care passionately about making the world a better place,' she said.
She went on to praise the agreement that Harry and Meghan will be stepping back from royal duties and will not receive public funds as a clean break for the pair. 'There are no blurred lines. They are starting afresh and they are going with the Queen's blessing, I think it is the best of all worlds,' the royal commentator added.
Ms. Junor went on to say that the choice to retain, but not use, the HRH title was significant. 'There is greater prestige to the HRH, it is the title of a working member of the royal family,' she said.
'I think holding onto it is very very good because it means that if something was to happen in the future, and who knows what might happen in the future, circumstances might change and they might want to come back. They might want to do royal work again, they might be needed. I think not to burn bridges is a good thing. It does mean that they won't be able to cash in, one would hope, on their royal status.'
However, the royal expert added it was 'currently ambiguous' whether the pair would be able to use the term, Sussex Royal, including on their official website Sussexroyal.com. Although she praised the agreement as positive for both the couple and the royal family, Ms. Junor said: 'The British public have lost out because these are two fantastic people who sprinkle fairy dust wherever they go and we are going to miss that, but clearly it was not making them happy.'
A source said the royal family and the Sussexes 'were pleased' to have reached a 'successful conclusion' to the talks. The source said: 'There has been an acceptance and understanding of what it is the Sussexes want to achieve and a genuine desire to come up with a new way of working to support their wish for a more independent life. The issues involved are complicated, that said the announcement meets Her Majesty and the family's wish for a speedy resolution, the nature of the issue has necessitated a number of detailed conversations between officials and members of the family. They were all extremely friendly and constructive because the common goal was clear, as was the desire to reach a successful conclusion everyone was pleased to have got here today.'
Royal accounts published last summer revealed £2.4million of tax-payers' money was spent on Meghan and Harry's grade-II listed Frogmore Cottage home near Windsor Castle. It turned five properties back into a single residence for the couple and their baby son Archie. The amount spent was heavily criticised at the time by the organisation Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state. But all fixtures and fittings for the home close to Windsor Castle were paid for privately by the Duke and Duchess. In a move that reveals the couple may have been trying to avoid a public backlash over the funds spent on the home, they have said they want to repay the amount. The Queen has said Frogmore will remain their home, and when the couple is in the UK they are likely to stay at the property and will pay a commercial rent on it. The couple's statement said they 'will no longer receive public funds for Royal duties', one of the requests of the Sussexes who said on the new website they wanted to step away from public money so they could be financially independent. The Prince had been spotted last night in the capital after spending the evening dining with friends at Brook House Pub in Fulham, west London. Following a crunch summit between Princes Charles, William, and Harry last Monday, the Queen agreed to let the Sussexes step back from official duties and tasked Palace aides with drawing up a blueprint for the couple's future in double-time. Harry had been expected to fly back across the Atlantic this weekend after hosting the Rugby League World Cup draw at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. Prince Harry gets new title just like his mother: Will be styled as Harry, Duke of Sussex in an echo of Diana, Princess of Wales The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will lose their HRH titles under the conditions of the 'Megxit' agreement just as Princess Diana had done 24 years ago. Part of the deal means that the couple will now only be known as Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, echoing Princess Diana's own royal path. Princess Diana, Harry's mother, similarly dropped her HRH title 24 years ago. Diana Spencer had originally gained the title HRH Princess of Wales when she married Prince Charles in 1981. But following a turbulent relationship, she forfeited the HRH title when the couple divorced in 1996. The Palace said at the time that she had relinquished the title voluntarily and from then on she was instead referred to as Diana, Princess of Wales. Diana died just one year later and Buckingham Palace began discussions about whether to posthumously restore the HRH to her name. But officials ultimately decided not to do so as her family said it would have been against her wishes. Earl Spencer, speaking during Diana's funeral in September 1997, said that she 'needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic'.
It is thought that posthumously awarding a former member of the Royal Family the HRH title has never happened before, according to royal historians. Speaking to the BBC at the time, constitutional historian Lord Blake said: 'It's never been done before. There's no example that I know of. I'm by no means sure that it would have been entirely wise to do it at this juncture, after all, Princess Diana herself let it be known after the divorce that she did not want to continue as HRH.'
The last time he saw his son was at the $14million Vancouver Island mansion where he and Meghan spent Christmas - and Archie stayed when they returned to the UK say they planned to quit as senior Royals. As well as splits between the Palace and Sussex households, friends claim that Harry and Meghan are themselves divided over where in Canada to settle down. The Duke is believed to be happy to continue living on the west coast near Vancouver, while his ex-actress wife is understood to favour Toronto, where she lived during her time filming Suits. 'Meghan has a lot of connections here. She finds it comfortable and believes it is somewhere they can develop new roles and pursue her interests,' a source told the Times.
Prince Andrew was also spotted at Sandringham on Saturday, where he was understood do have had lunch with the Queen and Prince Philip. It emerged today that Meghan's team pre-approved text and pictures sent out after her carefully-choreographed charity visit in Vancouver earlier this week. The Duchess of Sussex visited feminist climate change group Justice For Girls in Vancouver on Tuesday in one of the first times she has been seen since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were quitting as senior royals. Her visit was publicised on the group's Twitter account but only after Meghan's team apparently gave the go-ahead, The Daily Telegraph reports. On Friday, Meghan took full advantage of her newfound independence from the Crown as she drove herself to a Canadian airport to pick up a pilates expert pal who jetted in from the US for the weekend. The Duchess of Sussex was spotted in photos obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com parked outside Victoria International Airport in a Land Rover Discovery on Thursday afternoon. Queen says she is 'particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family' - as she reveals Megxit is a result of 'many months of conversations'
The Queen has expressed how she is 'particularly proud' of Meghan as she reveals the couple's announcement to step down as senior royals is the result of 'many months of conversations'.
Her Majesty praised how Meghan has swiftly become part of the family and thanked the couple for the work they had done, saying she was pleased they had found a constructive way to move forward. She expressed her desire for the family to create a 'happy and peaceful life' which the couple intends to purse in North America where they can set their own agenda and make money how they choose. Buckingham Palace announced tonight that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use their HRH titles and will repay £2.4million of taxpayers' money spent on renovating their Frogmore Cottage home. The couple, who will be known as Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will also stop carrying out royal duties from the spring. In her statement, the Queen said: 'Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family. Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much-loved members of my family. I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.'
'I want to thank them all for their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family. It is my whole family's hope that today's agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.'
Meghan Markle's team pre-approved text and pictures sent out after her carefully choreographed charity visit when she was given 18ct gold necklace worth £1,300
Meghan Markle's team pre-approved text and pictures sent out after her carefully-choreographed charity visit in Vancouver earlier this week. The Duchess of Sussex visited feminist climate change group Justice For Girls in Vancouver on Tuesday in one of the first times she has been seen since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were quitting as senior royals. Her visit was publicised on the group's Twitter account but only after Meghan's team apparently gave the go-ahead, The Daily Telegraph reports. The charity's co-director Zoe Craig-Sparrow confirmed that that charity had sent the proposed Tweet to the Duchess's team first. She said: 'And we wanted to ensure that what we were putting forward was an accurate representation of the meeting we thought it went really well, but obviously we want to make sure that was reciprocated.'
On the visit, Meghan was gifted an 18ct gold and diamond whale tail charm necklace by a First Nations artist. The necklace was designed by Hollie Bartlett, who is a member of the Haisla Nation. Hollie hand-picked the piece from her collection at Vancouver's Douglas Reynolds Gallery, which specialises in historic and contemporary northwest coast native art. Meghan's visit to Justice for Girls was one of two charity visits she made that day. The other was to Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, however, she never stepped foot inside the refuge. Nor did she actually meet with any of the 500 at-risk women who use the Downtown Eastside Center is one of Canada's poorest areas. Instead, the Duchess of Sussex went to the Vancouver organization's administrative offices in a former hotel building, where she met only with members of staff, acting executive director Kate Gibson said. Logistics for the visit to the center itself would have been too difficult, Gibson explained. For one thing, the center only allows in 'women and those who self-identify as women' so Royal Protection Officers would have had to stay outside, she said. She broke cover at the vulnerable women's centre after a 'mysterious' email from a Hotmail account arrived asking if she could drop in. It came from Meghan's 'assistant' not a royal aide, according to the centre's boss Ms. Gibson. On Thursday, Meghan drove herself to a Canadian airport to pick up a pilates-expert friend who jetted in from the US for the weekend. The Duchess of Sussex was spotted in photos parked outside Victoria International Airport in a Land Rover Discovery. She appeared to be in high spirits as she chatted with a male companion in the front seat, believed to be personal security, for about 10 minutes until her friend Heather Dorak arrived. More than 5,000 miles away in London, her husband Harry made his first public appearance since the Megxit bombshell and potentially his last engagement as a frontline royal at the draw for the Rugby League World Cup at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. And Harry and Meghan's staff at Frogmore Cottage are reportedly being 'let go', is the surest sign yet the couple will settle permanently in Canada with the Duchess strongly rumoured never to return. This week, a close friend said: 'Meghan felt she had to escape because living within the royal confines was soul-crushing.'
Meghan's friend explained that the 38-year-old feels she can 'finally breathe' since leaving and has free reign over her life again. They also explained that Meghan felt that living within the royal family confines was 'soul-crushing' and she didn't want her son around such a 'toxic environment', deciding to leave in part for his benefit.
The bank of Dad is draining Charles: RICHARD KAY on how the Prince of Wales has had to dip into his own private reserves and give Harry and William around £2.5million each
By Richard Kay for the Daily Mail
As fireworks arced across the night sky over Windsor Great Park, Prince Charles oozed with paternal pride. 'My darling old Harry, I'm so happy for you,' he had declared in his father-of-the-groom speech as the lavish celebrations for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding moved to its extravagant finale.
Fast forward 12 months and the Prince of Wales was in a rather less benign mood as he leafed through pages of accounts relating to his son's expenditure. The bills for the wedding, the bills relating to the considerable sums spent on fixtures and fittings at the Sussexes' home Frogmore Cottage quite distinct from the taxpayer-funded structural renovations and the ongoing bills for Harry and Meghan's allowance that he also provides, were adding up. Beyond a frown, he gave little away. 'His attitude is always just paying what needs to be paid and move on,' says a former aide. 'It's usually the path of least resistance when it's to do with the boys.'
But those familiar with some of the eye-watering numbers which have crossed the royal desk at Clarence House say there is another side to the story. One figure went so far as to say that the money he spends, not just on Harry and Meghan but also on financing William and Kate, was 'draining him'. Officially, the brothers and their households are funded out of Charles's Duchy of Cornwall estate, but, in fact, the Prince has at times had to dip into his own private reserves. It is thought the last time he had to do that on a significant level was in meeting Princess Diana's £17.5 million divorce settlement in 1996, for which he also had to borrow from the Queen. Within a year following Diana's death, that money, minus inheritance tax handed over to the Treasury, had ironically been transferred into trusts for his sons. Against this backdrop, it is no wonder that the Prince has been so dismayed by Harry's decision to turn his back on life within the Royal Family for an increasingly uncertain future outside it. One of his central worries is just how or rather who is going to finance their new lives. Money may not be the root of this crisis, but it is contingent on it. In announcing their decision to stand down as senior royals, the couple said it was their intention to be financially independent. While this certainly represents a headache for the monarchy with its thinly disguised inference that Harry and Meghan may become royals for sale, Prince Charles's money-men may be privately relieved. At one stage he was paying the Sussexes more than William and his family. That figure is now understood to be around the same, with Harry and William each receiving approximately £2.5 million. However, the Prince has let it be known that his funds are not inexhaustible and that there is a limit to how far and how much he can pay. Insiders speak of the 'hundreds of thousands of pounds' the Prince made available to furnish the couple's Windsor home after their decision to abandon Kensington Palace. This was in addition to the £2.4 million of public money used to convert the 19th-century property from five staff flats into a single home. 'As for the wedding, it cost him a small fortune,' a source said. 'They were not small sums.'
From the Michelin-starred caterers who provided the evening's black-tie dinner for 200, and the glass marquee, to the festival-themed food stalls and bars and cars and coaches to ferry the guests around, it was all paid for by the Prince.
According to a source, the figures involved in providing for both boys have in recent times been flagged up to the Prince by his accounting staff on more than one occasion. 'There's usually a raised eyebrow, but the Prince always just signs them off,' says the source.
All the same, he has made it clear that while he will continue to fund his sons, there can be, as one courtier put it, 'no blank cheque'. What do the bombshell statements mean?
What do they say?
Harry and Meghan are no longer going to be working royals, will not be carrying out royals duties and they will not use their HRH styles. What does this mean?
The couple have effectively stepped down, not just as senior royals, but as working royals in general. The dual role they suggested in their bombshell statement of earning their own money and carrying out royal duties is not going to happen. How will they be funded?
Buckingham Palace said they will no longer receive public funds for royal duties because they will not be carrying any out. When will the changes take place?
In the spring of 2020. Will they be financially independent?
Not completely. They will the earn their own money, but the Prince of Wales will also continue to offer private financial support to the couple. his is expected to come from his £21 million a year Duchy of Cornwall income. Will they still get round the clock protection officers paid for by the taxpayers?
Buckingham Palace said it does not comment on security matters. But it added: 'There are well established independent processes to determine the need for publicly funded security.'
And what about Frogmore Cottage?
Harry and Meghan will pay back £2.4 million in taxpayers' money spent on renovating their Berkshire home. Will they still use it as their base when in the UK?
Yes. And they will pay rent at a commercial rate on the property.
Taxpayers look set to keep paying £7.6million-a-year security bill
It seems the taxpayer will continue to pay Prince Harry and Meghan's £7.6million-a-year security bill, even though the couple has dropped their HRH titles. There has been a growing row about who will pick up the couple's annual security bill as they split their time between the UK and Canada. And Buckingham Palace's bombshell announcement this evening didn't directly address the issue. Now a security expert has warned it could cost as much as £7.6million annually. Chris Matthews, formerly of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and who worked in the protection of visitors to Canada such as the Royal Family, has estimated the security measures required for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would be similar to those of the Prime Minister.
The military ranks that Prince Harry will give up
The Duke of Sussex has been the Honorary Air Commandant of Royal Air Force Honington since 2008. He succeeded his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, in the role.
He has also been the Captain-General of the Royal Marines since December 2017. The Afghan war veteran was made Captain-General of the elite Corps last year, replacing Prince Philip.
Prince Harry is currently the Commodore-in-Chief of Small Ships and Diving for the Royal Naval Command. He has held this title since 2006.
Prince Andrew drives to lunch with Queen
Prince Andrew joined the Queen and Prince Philip for lunch at Sandringham today to keep his mother company in the midst of the Megxit crisis. The Duke of York was pictured rumbling through the Norfolk estate behind the wheel of his Land Rover Defender. Wearing a flat cap and green fleecy coat, he drove with a man and mystery blonde woman to Wood Farm where he met his regal parents following a shoot.
