Hurt British royals try to find exit route for Harry and Meghan

[webfact]

Hurt British royals try to find exit route for Harry and Meghan

By Michael Holden and Guy Faulconbridge

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrive to attend the WellChild Awards Ceremony in London, Britain, October 15, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth and other senior British royals are trying to thrash out a plan for Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan after a shock announcement that they will step back from their royal roles and spend much of their time in North America.

 

The couple blindsided the queen and the other Windsors on Wednesday when they said they wanted to lead a more independent life, which they hoped to finance themselves - a move that one royal source said had hurt and disappointed the family.

 

Neither Queen Elizabeth, who has devoted her life to public duty since succeeding her father in 1952, nor Prince Charles - Harry's father and heir to the throne - had been consulted on the announcement, made on Instagram.

 

"We have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution," the statement read.

 

"We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family, and work to become financially independent."

 

The couple - formally the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - said they had been reflecting for months, and would split their time between Britain and North America to allow them and their baby son the space they needed.

 

Buckingham Palace was taken aback, saying there had been only preliminary discussions about the couple's future.

 

But another royal source said on Thursday that the queen, Charles, and Harry's elder brother Prince William had told senior officials to work, with governments, to help the couple come up with "workable solutions" for the couple, preferably within days, not weeks.

 

'HALF-ROYAL'

It is not immediately clear how Harry, 35 and sixth in line to the throne, and Meghan, 38, will become what royal biographers said was effectively "half-royal" - and who will pay for their transatlantic lifestyles.

 

No senior royal made any immediate public comment on the decision, but British popular newspapers said Charles and William had been furious.

 

Harry has long been angry at the treatment he and his wife have received from the "tabloids", and in his announcement said they would reduce media access to their engagements.

 

"What really annoys me," said Arthur Edwards, veteran photographer for the Sun tabloid, "is that you can't really have your cake and eat it. You can't one minute be in America or Canada, next minute be in London.

 

"You know, you are either a member of the royal family or you're not."

 

Daily Mirror royal editor Russell Myers said Harry and Meghan might fall out with the rest of the family: "There will be certain repercussions, I imagine, for everyone involved."

 

Prince Charles, for his part, has long sought to slim down the number of senior royals in the public spotlight.

 

But the haste of the decision raises questions for a family that, in Elizabeth's words, has had a "quite bumpy" year - not least because of her son Prince Andrew's decision to step back due to his relationship with the wealthy convicted U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

 

Royal commentators drew parallels with the abdication of King Edward VIII, who gave up the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson - like Meghan, an American divorcee - and lived out his life in France.

 

WHO PAYS?

Opponents of the monarchy were scathing.

 

"Taxpayers will rightly ask who will be funding their overseas lifestyle, their extra security and trips back and forth between here and North America," said Graham Smith, head of the campaign group Republic, which wants to abolish the monarchy.

 

Meghan, who acted in the TV legal drama Suits, could return to acting in the United States, though it is unclear how the Palace would view that.

 

"Perhaps she'd have to be careful about what roles she'd do because she is a member of the royal family - so she couldn't do too many racy sex scenes, for instance," said royal biographer Penny Junor.

 

Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 in a lavish but lively ceremony in Windsor Castle that was heralded at the time as a sign of a more modern monarchy.

 

Yet their relationship with the media turned sour as they struggled to deal with the intense scrutiny it brought.

 

Harry, who has never hidden his discomfort with his royal role, and his brother bitterly remember how the press hounded their mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi.

 

Newspapers have criticised Harry and Meghan's use of private jets while promoting environmental causes, and the 2.4 million pound ($3.1 million) taxpayer-funded renovation of their home.

 

In October, the couple began legal action against some tabloid newspapers in October over historic phone-hacking and invasion of privacy.

Harry described the treatment of his wife as "bullying", and likened it to that of his mother.

 

(Additional reporting by Stephen Addison, Sarah Mills and Edward Baran; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-10

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[Somtamnication]

Yeah, they will struggle to survive on their 34 million.

[canuckamuck]

I really hope they can find a good apartment and some steady work. 

[OneMoreFarang]

I am not a Brit but I follow the British press regularly.

I find it amazing what a fuss many people over there make about this.

Is it really so difficult to understand that that Harry and Meghan want to live a normal life without the tabloids scrutinizing every step they take? I think it must be horrible to be super famous. You can't go the pub or even 7/11 next door without people watching you and looking at every detail. It must be horrible.

 

But it seems the British press and lots of people who write comments online make a big problem out of this. Amazing UK.

 

I wish them all the best. Enjoy your hopefully more normal life - we all know it will never be really normal.

 

 

[CelticBhoy]

That's a start!

When will the others follow suit?

????

[mokwit]

Job Centre?

[Lungstib]

Most of us grow up and start the decision making process for ourselves at around the 20 year old mark. It seems the royals need longer, perhaps never managing it, leaving them listening to great grandma till she finally expires. Lets hope they can get a job and fund their own lives like the rest of us had to.

[mokwit]

What annoys me is how the Left and BBC etc have spun this as a race issue. It is not racial - many of us just can't stand her and race doesn't come into that. I sympathise with them for the behaviour of the tabloids which is out of order - however there is an exception. If you make political/woke statements you must expect and accept a response to come back at you, whether from an individual or a newspaper. Likewise hypocrisy can legitimately be called out..

[kingdong]

28 minutes ago, CelticBhoy said:

That's a start!

When will the others follow suit?

????

Especially princess Michael of kent.who,s  she when she,s at home?too many ponces in the royal family gravy train.

[RickBradford]

 

[OneMoreFarang]

13 minutes ago, kingdong said:

You sound like a diamond geezer

Even after a minute or two on Google I still have to figure out if that is a good or bad thing. ???? 

[Chazar]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Is it really so difficult to understand that that Harry and Meghan want to live a normal life without the tabloids scrutinizing every step they take?

Fine  remove  all their  monies and leave them to it, empty  all bank accs. She  goes  straight back to acting he  can go back to the army.

[Skallywag]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think it must be horrible to be super famous. You can't go the pub or even 7/11 next door without people watching you and looking at every detail. It must be horrible.

You just buy your own pub and 7-11 with your "inherited" monies and only allow friends to be present ????

[TopDeadSenter]

7 minutes ago, Chazar said:

Fine  remove  all their  monies and leave them to it, empty  all bank accs. She  goes  straight back to acting he  can go back to the army.

Somehow I don't think that's quite what they had in mind!

[steve187]

8 minutes ago, Chazar said:

Fine  remove  all their  monies and leave them to it, empty  all bank accs. She  goes  straight back to acting he  can go back to the army.

they have enough money not to have to worry about working, they could easy get 'jobs' on boards etc

[Orton Rd]

Canada will suit the stupid woke hypocrites very well, these people belong in fairy tales and history books not in the modern world.

[JonnyF]

Basically they want to go part time. Pop back for the occasional visit when they get bored, fly back on private jets, stay in the mansions that the taxpayer renovated for them, that type of thing.

 

They want to be celebrities rather than Royals. Hopefully all Royal money is cut off, then they can do whatever they like.

 

Harry has played himself, totally manipulated into cutting off his family by some B movie actress. Weak. 

 

 

[Oxx]

Exit route? Perhaps, Dignitas or guillotine.

[blazes]

35 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Canada will suit the stupid woke hypocrites very well, these people belong in fairy tales and history books not in the modern world.

Well, let's face it: the Queen's face is on all Canadian banknotes.

 

So, maybe Californication is the better bet for these wokistas.

Maybe they can volunteer to clear the sh!te off the streets of San Francisco each morning....

[Rimmer]

A couple of off topic posts removed, one in bad taste the other will get you a substantial posting holiday if you pursue that line. 

[kamahele]

Hurt Royals?? Boo hoo! I wonder whose staff has been leaking the negative information about the couple to the tabloids all of this time...... 

[Bruntoid]

Let’s calm now - their ‘financial independence’ is actually only giving up the 5% sovereign grant - the other 95% will still come rolling in plus the taxpayer still paying for round the clock security which the Met refuse to give figures on !! 
 

They won’t be getting up at 6am, scraping the ice off the windscreen anytime soon!

[VocalNeal]

11 minutes ago, Bruntoid said:

They won’t be getting up at 6am, scraping the ice off the windscreen anytime soon!

They'll become Albertans? 

 

Leave the car running for 15 mins

Slam the driver's door

Turn on the wipers 

Drive away

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, CelticBhoy said:

That's a start!

When will the others follow suit?

????

 

With your poster name I'd worry more about when the role of Pope will be consigned to dark history!  ????

 

Not a good end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 for the RF though.

 

Still, politicians are acting more and more like robber Barons to remind us of the past!

 

 

[Mansell]

Amazing to me the vitriol aimed at Harry’s wife....do you know her? The answer is a big NO. So what is your problem with her? Not white enough for you? And that says it all.

Why can’t they make their own choices....the nonsense written on here about them is the same <deleted> the tabloids Hounded them with. If you don’t have anything positive or constructive to say, then shut the F#$& up and leave them alone. They are two young people trying to figure out their lives for themselves and don’t need your nastiness projected at them. Crawl back into your small holes with your small minds.

[RuamRudy]

Oh poor broken Britain - says it all when even the royals are bailing out. RIP UK. 

[Old Croc]

They would be immensely popular as celebrity You Tubers, getting record amounts of subscribers. They would probably earn more than the main members of the anachronistic family. 

[Syduan]

5 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

I really hope they can find a good apartment and some steady work. 

I don't.

[URMySunshine]

No other country would tolerate their Royals living in another country and continuing to suck on the government purse so neither should we. 

[ThaiBunny]

1 minute ago, URMySunshine said:

No other country would tolerate their Royals living in another country and continuing to suck on the government purse so neither should we. 

Not even the Duke & Duchess of Windsor?