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| Meghan returns to Canada as Queen calls for 'workable solution' | Meghan returns to Canada as Queen calls for 'workable solution' |
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| Fallout continues over royal couple’s decision to ‘step back’ from monarchy | Fallout continues over royal couple’s decision to ‘step back’ from monarchy |
| The Duchess of Sussex was back in Canada on Friday as royal officials tasked with hammering out new roles for her and Prince Harry were said to be “progressing well”. | |
| As Meghan turned to her friends for support, the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge were said to be adopting a pragmatic approach to the couple’s bid to become hybrid royals. | |
| Senior aides were in discussions at the weekend to come up with a workable solution acceptable to the Sussexes in their aim of stepping back from a frontline royal role while splitting their time between the UK and North America. | |
| 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. | 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. |
| Charles is said to be fully focused on resolving the issue, as are other senior family members. | Charles is said to be fully focused on resolving the issue, as are other senior family members. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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.” | 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.” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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 warning that the couple was planning to go public, and were said to feel hurt and disappointed. | |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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”. | |
| He said it was a toxic environment, and there needed to be a peace deal. “There’s so much anger and to be honest with you at the moment it looks like it might get worse, not better.” | |
| 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 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. | 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. |
| The couple want to become financially independent, but have not yet elaborated any commercial means of doing so. Until they do, it is likely they will be funded by Prince Charles, through his income from the Duchy of Cornwall. | |
| 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 out. | |
| 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 because they considered it disrespectful to the Queen and 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”. | 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. |