The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced earlier today that they are stepping back as senior members of the Royal Family. According to their Instagram post, they will “become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.”
“We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity,” Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said in a joint statement.
However, it seems that the decision allegedly wasn’t received well by the Royal Family. According to BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond, senior members, including Queen Elizabeth II, were “hurt” by the decision. The Queen’s deputy communications secretary Hannah Howard said in a statement in Entertainment Tonight, “Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.”
You may be wondering why the Duke and Duchess are stepping back, despite being two of the most popular members of the Royal Family. We can only guess at this point but it’s possible that the British tabloid media’s mistreatment of Markle and the Prince Andrew controversy pushed them.
Since the Duke and Duchess went public with their relationship in 2016, Markle has been on the receiving end of several racist and sexist narratives from the British media. Many have criticized her for breaking royal protocol, blamed her for her staff’s fast turnover, compared her to Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, and somehow found a way to blame her for Prince William’s alleged infidelity.
It’s gotten so bad that Prince Harry had to release a statement decrying the sexism and racism that Markle was facing. The couple also filed a lawsuit against the Daily Mail for publishing “lie after lie at her expense.”
Now you understand why there are rumors saying the couple have been unhappy, especially after Markle’s interview from ITV’s documentary “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey” was aired. “Not many people have asked if I’m okay. I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair, and that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile,” she said of the tabloid attention.
As for the Prince Andrew controversy, the Duke of York was recently slammed for defending his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Although he has stepped back from his royal duties, there are reports saying that the Queen is siding with him because he is her favorite son. (According to the Daily Beast, the Queen was “forced” to fire Prince Andrew.)
Bottomline: The situation within the British Royal Family is a mess and we don’t blame the Sussex royals for wanting to step back. It’s not a bad thing to want to be financially independent and no longer receive money from the Sovereign Grant—just look at Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie who both have full-time jobs but are still able to support the monarch.
Also, Markle shouldn’t be blamed for this decision. We’re sure both her and Harry didn’t want to hurt anyone and they certainly aren’t ditching their family. (We’re looking at you and your tirade, Piers Morgan.)
[The Cut]
Photo courtesy of Duke and Duchess of Sussex’ Instagram account
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