Buckingham Palace Confirms The Sussexes’ Last Day As Senior Royals

Following a final series of royal engagements in the UK in March, Meghan and Harry will officially start their new financially independent lives from April

After much deliberation, Buckingham Palace has confirmed that as of April 1st, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry will no longer be senior members of the royal family with their last official working day being March 31st. The decision will be reviewed after 12-month period to ensure that that the arrangement is working out for all parties.

The news of the highly-anticipated announcement confirms that the royal family may finally have been able to decide on a path that would allow the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to “step back” from being senior members of the royal family and pursue their life in North America

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shocked the world in January by announcing via social media that they intended to “step back as senior members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent.” The news came as a surprise to everyone, including the Queen and the Royal Family who were not consulted beforehand.

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“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. 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. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support.” – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex For more information, please visit sussexroyal.com (link in bio) Image PA

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Jan 8, 2020 at 10:33am PST

In an official statement released by The Palace in the days following the announcement, the Queen stated that she was “entirely supportive” of Meghan and Harry’s decision although she would have preferred that they had remained as full-time working members. “These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days,” she concluded.

Recent developments have also confirmed that whilst the couple will formally maintain their HRH titles, they will not be permitted to use them however,  question of whether or not the Sussexes will be able to keep “Royal” within their Sussex Royal brand name still remains.