Apparently they are “step back as senior members of the Royal Family,” and planning to split their time between the UK and US!
Discuss! 
I just saw this on their Instagram. I don’t blame them for trying to have a different kind of life for their son. Some of the comments I read were very negative, but I for one wish them all the best. Life changes when you have a family and your children become the number one priority.
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Happy for them. But it says they will be splitting time between UK and North America. Could be US, but considering they were able to fly under the radar so long in Canada, and it’s a Commonwealth country, I would expect that’s where they might live part-time.
^^ Apologies for the US assumption!!! I vote to live in Canada too! 
Yea for them! I don’t know why anyone would begrudge them a more normal life after what he went through with his mother. I didn’t think that I could like him any more.
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Wow, good for them!
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Once the Queen, a legendary and historically important figure that I deeply admire, passes away, I won’t be able to possibly care less about the British monarchy.
It will be interesting to see what they will actually be doing (with their time and also financially) if they aren’t going to representing the family in all the usual charitable activities that I see on their instagram sussexroyal. This plan also seems flexible - they could change their minds. Maybe Prince Andrew’s daughters will take over some of their duties. On another royal instagram page, we just saw Edward’s teen daughter Lady Louise doing some work with her mother.
I applaud this decision.
I remember reading several years back that Harry, at one point, was so unhappy that he was seriously considering giving up his Royal title (and probably prince title, too). I think this is a wonderful compromise for him and his family. I’m happy for him.
I also applaud the decision. Harry is not the king-to-be, so he doesn’t have the same obligation to put up with all that comes with that life in the way William does. They plan to work toward financial independence, according to what I read, which would allow them to dictate the manner in which they want to stay involved with Royal “duties.” The information I read seems to point toward North America being Canada.
Best wishes to them for a happy life.
I think this has a lot less to do with Harry and Megan, and more to do with the ongoing efforts to shrink the royal family – and their taxpayer expenses.
Prince Charles has been advocating this for a long time.
It’s also going on in the royal families elsewhere in Europe.
Good for them. Harry’s so far down the line of succession at this point that pulling back from royal duties isn’t such a big deal.
Shame they didn’t do this before the wedding. Frankly it looks like a great business decision though. Monetize the publicity thus far and control the narrative. The karshashianization model.
@katliamom , I think you hit on something. I have read where Prince Charles is wanting to rein things in. But if it is true that is behind this, at least it aligns with what Harry wants, it would seem.
I get the feeling that there will soon be a royal reality show produced by one or more of the Kardashians.
@conmama With the succession set for a few generations, I’d think it’s major relief for Harry to be able to lead a life on his terms, and no longer so much on the royal family’s.
Well, this is fun:
the Daily Mail (admittedly a rag) claims the announcement to step back caught the palace by surprise, that the Queen is livid, and that aides say they’ve been stabbed in the back. “One exasperated aide said: ‘People had bent over backwards for them. They were given the wedding they wanted, the house they wanted, the office they wanted, the money they wanted, the staff they wanted, the tours they wanted and had the backing of their family. What more did they want?’”
The person getting most of the blame? Meghan, naturally.
^ Well, that does ring true - the wedding, major renovations to the house (twice I think?), etc. She did seem to relish in it for awhile, until she no longer wanted to do so - like an acting role one participates in for a short while, not a way of life. Not saying it isn’t a fine decision given how far removed Harry is in the line of succession.
Sadly, I did a major dive into this whole Harry and Meghan thing.
If anyone saw The Crown, it’s said several times that the hardest thing is to say nothing at all, that the job of a Royal is to be neutral.
I think Meghan Markle as an American had a very different idea of what being a Royal is instead of what the job actually is. She, I think, thought that she could become a great humanitarian advocating for her pet causes. When we think of princess Diana, we think of her going into those mine fields. That happened very very rarely. What we don’t think about is the shear tedium of Royal life. Of going to openings and talking to people you don’t want to talk to, day after day. Of everything being very strict, the way you dress, what you say (and don’t say) and every aspect of your life being criticized.
I also think that after this whole Jeffery Epstein fiasco, how royals made money is being scrutinized with a fine tooth comb. Royals have had rich friends who did things for them, gave them money to be close to them. The royal family needs to get away from hanger oners.
And Harry and Meghan were not playing the Royal game. They had hired their own PR people and were not following the “rules”.
There have been a lot of rumors of the Sussex’s controlling their own narrative and of getting out in the press, negative things about the Cambridge’s.
Sounds like H&M went off and did this without informing any of the family or Buckingham Palace. Wow!
That was way too much information! Lol
I edited a few things as I thought that this announcement was in conjunction with others members of the royal family.