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Meghan returns to Canada as Queen calls for 'workable solution' Meghan returns to Canada as Queen calls for 'workable solution'
(about 5 hours later)
Fallout continues over royal couple’s decision to ‘step back’ from monarchyFallout continues over royal couple’s decision to ‘step back’ from monarchy
The Duchess of Sussex has flown back to Canada, leaving senior royals to hammer out a way forward for her and Prince Harry to operate as “hybrid” royals. The Duchess of Sussex was back in Canada last night as royal officials, tasked with hammering out new roles for her and Prince Harry, were said to be “progressing well”.
As Meghan returned to Vancouver, and the embrace of supportive friends, top royal aides were in unprecedented talks with government officials in the UK and Canada to seek a solution to end the latest crisis to engulf the monarchy. As Meghan turned to her friends for support, the Queen, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge were said to be adopting a “pragmatic” approach to the bombshell bid by the couple to become hybrid royals.
The Queen, Prince Charles, the Duke of Cambridge and his brother are all keen to get solid, workable proposals on the table as early as next week to prevent the matter festering, and to curtail and contain the crisis. Senior aides were in discussions at the weekend to come up with a workable solution acceptable to the Sussexes, to achieve their aim of stepping back from a frontline royal role while splitting their time between the UK and North America.
As advisers grappled with complicated issues over future funding and police protection for the couple, there remained the question of whether a solution could be found that the Sussexes would find acceptable. The attitude of the three most senior royals was very much “let’s get on with it, let’s not let it fester”. They were united in agreeing they needed to tackle the issue swiftly, rather than avoid it and watch it blow up, it is understood.
Senior royals are understood to be very anxious to avoid negative headlines suggesting the couple are being forced to do something against their will. Charles is said to be fully focused on resolving the issue, as are other senior family members.
A spokeswoman for the duchess said: “I can confirm she is in Canada.” There was no indication given on how long Meghan, who was based in Toronto while starring in the legal drama Suits, would remain there, or if Harry would shortly join her. Harry has remained in the UK as talks between senior aides and officials from the UK and other governments – thought to be Canada and the US – continue “at pace”, with a workable plan expected within days. The home secretary, Priti Patel, has been asked to participate in the discussions.
It is understood Meghan was always due to return to Canada after a brief return trip to the UK. A source said she came back to attend some meetings and then went back. A spokeswoman for Meghan said: “I can confirm she is in Canada.” There was no indication of how long the duchess, who was based in Toronto while filming the US legal drama Suits, would remain there, or if Harry would shortly join her.
Harry and Meghan set out their proposals to “step back” from being senior, frontline royals, split their time between north America and the UK, and to become “financially independent” in an explosive statement released on their new website sussexroyal.com, leaving Buckingham Palace blindsided on Wednesday evening. It is understood Meghan was always planning to return to Canada after a brief trip to the UK. A source said: “She came back to attend some meetings and then went back.”
But their proposals for a “progressive new role”, as laid out on their website, are far from detailed. Harry and Meghan revealed plans to redefine their roles, and to work to become financially independent in a statement released without warning on their new website Sussexroyal.com on Wednesday evening.
A Buckingham Palace source has said the Queen, Charles, William and Harry have asked their senior aides to work “at pace” to find a way to allow the couple to become financially independent royals. Though they were in the early stages of discussion with Prince Charles and the Queen over the matter, no member of the royal family was given advance warning that the couple was planning to go public, and were said to feel hurt and disappointed.
Meghan flew back to Canada just days after returning to the UK at the weekend, following a six-week break with Harry and their son, Archie, away from royal duties. The crisis followed months of tensions within the family, according to ITV’s Tom Bradby, a friend of the couple whose recent documentary on their southern Africa tour featured Meghan speaking candidly of her struggles with royal life.
Though the couple were in the early stages of talks with Charles and the Queen over a change in their role, no members of the royal family were warned that they were about to make the matter public. Bradby alleged the couple felt they were being “driven out”. Speaking on ITV News he said there had been a lot of fallouts and that “certainly the rest of the family find Harry and Meghan very difficult and, from Harry and Meghan’s point of view, they’re just being driven out as they see it”.
When their statement exploded across social and main stream media, the Queen, Charles and William had no option but to accelerate the process immediately. They now see it as imperative to reach an agreement. The home secretary, Priti Patel, has been asked to participate in the talks. He said it was a toxic environment, and there needed to be a peace deal. Bradby said: “There’s so much anger and to be honest with you at the moment it looks like it might get worse, not better.”
According to reports, the couple were frustrated at the lack of progress after first informing Charles before Christmas of their plan and failing to get a meeting with the Queen. As aides grapple with issues including how the couple will fund themselves, and the cost of security, senior royals are keen that the financial cost of any new role is not the driving force.
It is claimed they ignored a request by the Queen not to go public until matters were sorted. The couple are reported to have summoned their own aides to their Frogmore Cottage home in Windsor on Monday evening. Despite entreaties from those aides not to release a statement, as it was “disrespectful” to the Queen and also “shooting themselves in the foot”, their minds were made up, sources told the Daily Mail. It is said to be a matter of getting the concept right, seeing the cost implications, then working the finances, according to insiders, keen to stress that money was not being used to push the couple in one direction or another.
One source told the newspaper they had been “holed up” in Canada, away from the influence of palace aides, in a “vacuum, thinking and plotting, winding each other up”. On their return, it was said, they would “listen to no one but each other”. It is not yet clear how the new roles will be financed. The couple want to become “financially independent”, but have not yet elaborated any commercial means by which they could achieve that. Until they do, it is likely they will be funded by Prince Charles, through his income from the Duchy of Cornwall.
The fact their new website was registered last March, has fuelled speculation the couple’s plan has been long in the making. The website is created by the Toronto-based digital agency Article, who built Meghan’s now defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig. According to reports, the couple were frustrated at the lack of progress after first informing Charles of their plan before Christmas and failing to get a meeting with the Queen. They then ignored a request by the Queen not to go public until matters were sorted.
They are reported to have summoned their own aides to their Frogmore Cottage home in Windsor, on Monday evening. Despite requests from those aides not to release a statement, as they considered it disrespectful to the Queen and also risked “shooting themselves in the foot”, their minds were made up, sources told the Daily Mail.
One source told the newspaper they had been in Canada, away from the influence of palace aides, in a “vacuum, thinking and plotting, winding each other up”. On their return, it was said, they would “listen to no one but each other”.
The fact their new website was registered last March, has fuelled speculation the couple’s plan has been long in the making. The website is created by the Toronto-based digital agency Article, who built Meghan’s now-defunct lifestyle blog, the Tig.