Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced last month that they will be stepping down as senior royals to focus more on their family and charities. The couple also wished to be financially independent as they start their new life.
But even though Queen Elizabeth supported Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision, there is a process to be followed and they are not immediately stripped off of their roles. This means that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex still have some royal duties to attend before they officially step down as senior members of the Royal Family.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are currently residing at a $14 million waterfront Vancouver Island mansion, but they will be going back to Britain on March 9 for the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. Although this is the couple’s final engagement as senior royals, the Duke of Sussex will also come back in April for the London Marathon. However, ITV’s Royal Rota, editor Chris Ship believes that the former actress will not tag along.
“We know that Harry and Meghan will be back in April because he’s going to the London Marathon in his capacity as the patron,” he said. “He might be back on his own. We might see him in April as patron of the London Marathon.”
Meanwhile, Royal commentator Robert Hardman shared that what’s going on in the Royal Family right now is “very sad.” He believed that things would have been planned better.
“It’s very sad, I think everyone’s sad it’s come to this,” he said. “I don’t think this transition was fully thought through from the start. It was sort of sprung on the world and it hasn’t quite worked. But they’re clearly a loss because they’re a hugely popular couple. We all remember May 2018 when you have almost a billion people around the world watching this fantastic moment. You can’t but regret what’s happened.”
Robert Hardman feels like even though Prince Harry and Meghan Markle lost their HRH titles, they are still HRH deep down inside. He also noted that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will always be a part of the Royal family no matter what.
“I think the Queen is absolutely determined to make sure that they have every way possible from coming back from this,” he said. “They’re not going to use HRH but they’re still going to be HRH. They’re still going to be part of the family and I think in a few years they will have found their way through it. We will still see them on the balcony and at family events.”
