Duke and
Duchess of Sussex 'defied Queen' over statement release
Announcement
they were stepping back as senior royals ‘blindsided’ palace
Caroline
Davies and Ben Quinn
Thu 9 Jan
2020 18.01 GMTLast modified on Thu 9 Jan 2020 18.18 GMT
The Duke
and Duchess of Sussex sent a copy of their explosive statement to Prince
Charles and Prince William just 10 minutes before it was released on Instagram.
The Duke
and Duchess of Sussex defied instructions from the Queen not to go public with
their bombshell announcement they are to step back as senior royals until
details of their plans had been fully discussed, it has been claimed.
The
Guardian understands that the couple went ahead regardless, sending a copy of
their explosive statement to Prince Charles and Prince William just 10 minutes
before it was released on Instagram, and without any further consultation.
Buckingham
Palace was said to have been “blindsided” by the release of the statement while
talks were at such a very early stage. Senior family members were reportedly
left feeling “disappointed” and “hurt”.
As myriad
questions remained unanswered, the sequence of events leading to the
announcement emerged.
Harry
originally contacted his father about spending more time in Canada and America
just before Christmas, but was told he needed to come up with a thought-out
plan, according to details first reported by royal editor Robert Jobson on the
Evening Standard.
He then
sent a draft proposal about his planned new role to Charles early in the new year,
but was informed more time was required to think through the complex
implications, particularly over funding.
Harry then
sought a meeting with the Queen as soon as the couple and son Archie returned
from their six-week break from royal duties. He was told the Queen would only
meet him after he had discussed the plans in detail with Charles, sources told
Jobson.
The planned
meeting was blocked by courtiers, but the Queen is said to have made it clear
the couple should not go public at this time.
No senior
royal knew in advance the wording of the statement, penned personally by the
couple, or that it was about to be released.
Amid
fallout over the news, there was said to be a willingness at the palace to make
the new roles work. But, senior advisers have stressed, there are “complicated
issues” to work through.
In their
statement on Wednesday, Harry and Meghan said they intended to “step back”,
split their time between the UK and North America, and work to become
“financially independent”. A new “progressive role” would see them freed from
palace constraints, allowed to earn income, promote their causes while also
“continuing to honour our duty to the Queen, the Commonwealth, and our
patronages”.
A number of
royal commentators have criticised the decision, with some describing it as the
biggest surprise since the Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.
Dickie
Arbiter, a former palace press secretary, said of the couple’s actions: “It
seems to be a succession of doing things their own way, which is the wrong
way.” Royal author Penny Junor said it had echoes of when Diana announced she
was stepping back from 50 of her charities without consulting anybody. “The
problem is that they are not working for themselves, they are working for a
family firm, and to be making announcements of this sort without consulting is
beyond bizarre”.
But Meghan
received support from her close friend Jessica Mulroney, Canadian stylist and
wife of Canadian TV presenter, Ben Mulroney, who posted a quote attributed to
US singer and filmmaker Gina Carey, saying: “A strong woman looks a challenge
in the eye and gives it a wink.”
On their
new website, sussexroyal.com the couple said they received just 5% of their
funding for official duties from public money through the sovereign grant, the
formula for funding the monarchy that replaced the civil list in 2012.
The
remaining 95% of their funding comes from Prince Charles’s private income from
the Duchy of Cornwall. However, it is understood that the 5% figure does not
include travel expenses or their round-the-clock security detail.
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