PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle will step away from life as senior royals after the Queen’s no-nonsense Megxit agreement was revealed today.
Buckingham Palace has announced the details of their Megxit deal, including what the royal couple have to give up and what Her Majesty is going to let them keep.
Prince Harry and Meghan will get to keep Frogmore Cottage as their UK family home but they have agreed to repay the £2.4million of taxpayer money that was used to refurbish it.
The couple are expected to pay commercial rent for the home and for its upkeep which could come to around £30,000 a month.
Her Majesty has allowed Harry and Meghan to keep their patronages but they can no longer formally represent the Queen.
Prince Harry will be able to continue his work with the Invictus Games and Aids charity Sentebale but only as a private individual.
Prince Charles will continue to privately fund the royal couple after it was announced they can no longer use public funds.
It is unclear if the money will continue to come from the Duchy of Cornwall’s coffers – they get an estimated £2.3million a year from it.
Harry and Meghan have not been stripped of their HRH titles but they have agreed to no longer use them since they are no longer working members of the royal family.
Their names will be re-styled as Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex – similar to how his late mother’s title was re-styled to Diana, Princess of Wales after she divorced Prince Charles.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles were a wedding gift to the couple from the Queen.
Whether they’ll be able to use ‘royal’ in Sussex royal is unclear.
Prince Harry has had to give up his military titles including Captain General of Marines, Hon Air Commandant, Commodore-In-Chief and Youth Ambassador.
Harry will no longer be a patron of the Royal Marines, the Royal Naval Command’s Small Ships and Diving nor the Royal Air Force Honington.
Prince Harry and Meghan will no longer have access to the Sovereign Grant to fund their expenses such as travel, staff and office costs.
Now any and all expenses must be privately paid for by them.
The couple will no longer be going on royal tours as they do not represent the Queen or the monarchy anymore.
The pair most recently went to South Africa, Malawi, Angola and Botswana with baby Archie.
Even though Prince Harry and Meghan are no longer considered “working royals”, the British taxpayer may still have to foot the bill for their security.
Buckingham Palace said: “There are well-established independent processes to determine the need for publicly-funded security.”
Prince Harry and Meghan applied to trademark the “Sussex Royal” brand in the UK in June 2019, and they are also reportedly seeking a global trademark.
It means they can cash in on their name for now although Buckingham Palace could not say last night whether they would be blocked from using it.
