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LONDON (AP) – Buckingham Palace confirmed on Friday that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will not resume royal duties and that Harry will relinquish his honorary military titles – a move that makes the couple’s separation formal and final. Royal family.
When Harry and Meghan stepped down from full-time royal life in March 2020, unhappy with the media scrutiny and restrictions on their roles, it was agreed the situation would be revisited after a year.
It is now, and the palace said in a statement that the couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, had verified “that they will not be returning as active members of the royal family. . “
He said Queen Elizabeth II spoke to Harry, 36, and confirmed ‘that by moving away from the work of the royal family it is not possible to continue to carry out the responsibilities and duties which accompany a life of public service. “
The palace said Harry’s appointment as captain general of the Royal Marines and titles of other military groups would go to the Queen before being distributed to other family members.
Harry served in the British Army for a decade, including on the front line in Afghanistan, and has close ties to the military. He founded the Invictus Games competition for wounded soldiers, which was first held in 2014 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
He will also have to relinquish his duties as boss of the Rugby Football Union, the Rugby Football League and the London Marathon Charitable Trust.
Meghan, 39, will be stripped of her role as patron of the British National Theater and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
“Although everyone is saddened by their decision, the Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family,” the palace statement read.
American actress Meghan Markle, former star of the television legal drama “Suits”, married Queen Harry’s grandson at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Their son, Archie, was born a year later.
In early 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they were stepping down from royal duties and moving to North America, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media towards the Duchess, who identifies as biracial.
The couple agreed to no longer use the title of ‘royal highness’ or receive public funds for their work, although it was not clear at the time whether those decisions would stand.
They retain their titles of Duke and Duchess, and Harry is still sixth on the British throne. Harry and Meghan now live in Santa Barbara, California, and are expecting their second child. The couple recently announced that they will speak to Oprah Winfrey for a TV special to air next month.
They continue to have strained relations with sections of the British media. Earlier this month, Meghan won a legal victory in a lawsuit against the editor of The Mail on Sunday, when a UK judge ruled the newspaper invaded her privacy by publishing part of a letter she had written to his former father.
News of their split from the palace comes as Harry’s grandfather Prince Philip, 99, is in a London hospital, where he was admitted on Tuesday after feeling unwell.
A spokesperson for the couple responded to suggestions that Meghan and Harry were not being devoted to duty.
‘As evidenced by their work over the past year, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service in the UK and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organizations that they represented whatever their official role ”. the spokesperson said in a statement.
“We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.”
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