Photo: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Cape Town, Africa in September 2019.
VANTAGE NEWS/IPX
Following a year of particularly relentless media attention, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, announced Wednesday they would step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family and—in a notable break from the past—work to become “financially independent.”
- In a joint statement posted to Instagram, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said “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.”
- “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,” they wrote.
- The couple said they will split their time between North America and the U.K. in order to raise their son Archie with “an appreciation for the royal tradition” to which he was born, but also “with space to focus on the next chapter.”
- They also plan to launch “a new charitable entity,” but it’s unclear when.
- BBC News’ royal correspondent Jonny Dymond reported that no other members of the Royal Family were consulted before the Sussexes released their statement, and that the Palace is “disappointed.”
Key background: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been subject to intense press coverage since their courtship in 2016, wedding in 2018, and birth of their first child Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019. (Some of the coverage directed at Meghan has been described as “racist,” with Harry firing off a missive criticizing the press in 2016.) The couple has filed lawsuits in 2019 against British tabloids The Mail on Sunday, The Sun and The Mirror, accusing them of violating their privacy and committing copyright violations. In a 2019 documentary, Meghan admitted that being a newlywed, a new mother and a new royal was “a lot.”
Big Number: $86 million. That’s how much the monarchy cost British taxpayers in 2018-2019, according to the Royal Household’s annual report. Taxpayer support of the royals is an ongoing political issue in some parts of the U.K., with critics saying vulnerable populations and slashed social programs might have more use for the funds.
What We Don’t Know: How the couple will make money. In the Instagram post, the couple say “the next chapter” would include “the launch of our new charitable entity,” which could, potentially, provide them both a salary. Markle had been an actress (most prominently in the TV show Suits) but has said she would stop acting once she married Prince Harry. The Prince, meanwhile, launched the Invictus Games, and has worked as a patron for a number of charities, including the HALO Trust, Walking With The Wounded, and the London Marathon Charitable Trust.
Tangent: Forbes estimated Queen Elizabeth II (Prince Harry’s grandmother) to have a net worth of $500 million in 2019.
Forbes
