LONDON (AP) – Buckingham Palace confirmed on Friday that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will not return to royal duties, and Harry will give up his military honorary titles – a decision that will make the couple’s divorce formal and final. Royal family.
When Harry and Meghan retired from full-time royal life in March 2020, unhappy with the media attention and the limitations on their roles, it was agreed that the situation would be reviewed after a year.
Now it is, and the palace said in a statement that the couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have verified “that they will not return as working members of the royal family.
It said Queen Elizabeth II had spoken to 36-year-old Harry and affirmed “that by distancing himself from the work of the royal family, it is not possible to carry on with the responsibilities and duties that come with living in public service.”
The palace said Harry’s appointment as Captain General of the Royal Marines and titles with other military groups would revert to the Queen before being distributed to other members of the family.
Harry served in the British Army for a decade, including on the front lines in Afghanistan, and has a close relationship with the military. He founded the Invictus Games competition for wounded troops, which was first held in 2014 at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
He will also have to relinquish positions as a patron of the Rugby Football Union, the Rugby Football League and the London Marathon Charitable Trust.
Meghan, 39, is relieved of her role as patron of the UK’s National Theater and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
“Although they are all saddened by their decision, the Duke and Duchess remain beloved members of the family,” the palace said.
American actress Meghan Markle, a former star of the legal TV drama “Suits”, married the Queen’s grandson Harry in May 2018 at Windsor Castle. Their son, Archie, was born a year later.
In early 2020, Meghan and Harry announced that they would give up their royal duties and move to North America, citing the UK media’s excruciating invaders and racist views of the Duchess, who identifies as biracial.
The couple agreed to no longer use the title of “royal highness” or receive public funds for their work, although it was unclear at the time whether those decisions would hold.
They keep their titles of duke and duchess, and Harry is still sixth in line to the British throne. Harry and Meghan now live in Santa Barbara, California and are expecting their second child. The couple recently announced that they would be speaking with Oprah Winfrey for a TV special to air next month.
They continue to have a tense relationship with parts of the British media. Earlier this month, Meghan won a legal victory in a lawsuit against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday when a British judge ruled that the paper violated her privacy by publishing part of a letter she wrote to her estranged father.
The news of their break with the palace comes as Harry’s grandfather, 99-year-old Prince Philip, is in a hospital in London, where he was admitted on Tuesday after feeling unwell.
A spokesperson for the couple returned to suggestions that Meghan and Harry were not committed to duty.
“As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the UK and the rest of the world and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented, regardless of the official role, ”the spokesman said in a statement.
We can all live lives of service. Service is universal. “