King Charles III has confirmed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are “not to be considered working members of the royal family” after their move back to Britain (PBS NewsHour; Images Dawn).
The letter
The Lord Chamberlain, the royal household’s most senior official, signed a letter setting out the couple’s status. “To help avoid doubt or confusion, The King has directed that (this) information be shared,” it says.
On the titles: their styles as His and Her Royal Highness “remain in abeyance and are not used.”
The letter also states: “It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of The Sovereign, and are no longer working Members of The Royal Family.”
The couple are described as “akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests”, a position distinct from the state and royal duties of the working royal family.
Why now
Because they moved back. Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, stepped back from royal duties in January 2020 and left for the United States. Last month they returned unexpectedly to the UK with their children Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, settling in the Cotswolds.
Living in California, the distinction was academic. Living in Gloucestershire, it is not — proximity creates occasions, invitations and photographs that require someone to have decided in advance what they are.
What the wording does and does not do
“In abeyance” is not “revoked”. Formally removing an HRH style requires more than a household letter — the 1917 letters patent that grant it would have to be altered, or Parliament involved — and the palace has not attempted that. The letter regulates practice, not entitlement. The styles still exist; they are simply not to be used.
The working royals remain Queen Camilla, Prince William, Catherine, Princess Anne, and Edward and Sophie.
What is not established
No statement from the Sussexes had been issued at the time of writing, and the letter gives no indication of what, if any, role they may play at state occasions.
[Image: Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP]
