Meghan and Harry Stepping Back from Royal Duties, Queen Responds to Their Instagram Post

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have made a major announcement on January 8 and it means a big change is about to happen within the Royal Family.

After being married for over a year and welcoming their first child, a son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, into the world in May, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are “stepping back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family.”

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In an Instagram post, Harry and Meghan made the announcement to the public regarding their big decision. “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.”

The statement continued, “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.”

Harry and Meghan also revealed that they will now be splitting their time between the United Kingdom and North America, while also honoring their “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.”

Shortly after their announcement was made, Prince Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, issued a statement of her own in response. The Queen made sure the public knew that this change is still in the early stages of being executed.

“Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.”

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According to a source with inside knowledge, People reports that the Queen, Prince Charles, and Prince William were caught off guard by Harry and Meghan’s decision to release their statement when they did.

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In Tembisa, Johannesburg, today The Duke and Duchess visited to meet young entrepreneurs at the YES hub – a hive for creativity and social enterprise. Their visit was an amazing tour of the ingenuity and opportunity – seeing businesses that varied from food to essential sanitary products for local women. During their visit, they were able to sample food from ‘Chef Mish’ – a local masterchef winner – which he makes at the site as part of his catering business and cafe. They then joined YES community members to take part in training and tests that will help them gain skills and find work. On the third stop today, entrepreneur Moss showed The Duke and Duchess the organic produce he's growing in the township with aquaponics – supplying local restaurants. And finally, The Duke and Duchess met the women behind the amazing Blossom Care Solutions – who are making 80,000 sanitary pads every month for women in their community. They are 100% compostable, and provide an essential low-cost product for women and girls. The Duchess has long campaigned on this issue and wrote in Time magazine in 2017, saying: “In communities all over the globe, young girls’ potential is being squandered because we are too shy to talk about the most natural thing in the world. To that I say: we need to push the conversation, mobilize policy making surrounding menstrual health initiatives, support organizations who foster girls’ education from the ground up, and within our own homes, we need to rise above our puritanical bashfulness when it comes to talking about menstruation.” • See our previous post to see The Dukes speech #RoyalVisitSouthAfrica Photo ©️ PA images

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on

The announcement comes shortly after Harry and Meghan spent the holidays in Canada with Meghan’s mother. The source told People, “There is a lot of hurt about this.”

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