Britain’s ex-prince Harry and his wife Meghan began a new life as an ordinary people on Sunday after being stripped of their royal titles and public fundings by the Queen.
On Saturday Buckingham Palace’s announced settlement saw the 93-year-old monarch take on her painfully familiar role of managing a family crisis that threatened the very foundations of one of Britain’s oldest institutions.
The “Megxit” mess started when the young couple gave up their font-line family duties and announced to live independently in North America on January 8.
Read: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry to become self independent
The couple made the announcement public without taking Queen Elizabeth II’s permission or without knowing the consequences.
According to details, the couple has lost their right to be called “his and her royal highness” just like Harry’s mother Princess Diana after she divorced Prince Charles in 1996.
Harry and Meghan agreed to repay £2.4 million ($3.1 million) of taxpayer’s money spent on renovating their Frogmore Cottage home near Windsor Castle.
Also Read: Queen Elizabeth II agrees Harry and Meghan ‘transition period’ in Canada
On Sunday, former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter wrote in The Sun that,
“No royal has ever paid back money. It is absolutely unprecedented”.
Harry’s military titles and patronages he was awarded after serving with the British Army in Afghanistan have also been stripped of. According to Arbiter, it was the loss of the HRH (royal highness) title that made a Palace history.
“Even when Edward VIII abdicated (in 1936) he dropped from being His Majesty The King to HRH the Duke of Windsor,” he said.
Whereas, on the other hand, Harry expressed great sadness following news he and Meghan are no longer working members of the royal family. He said at a charity event in London that UK is his home and a place that he loves.
“The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly. It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I haven’t always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.”
He further said,
“Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the commonwealth, and my military associations, but without public funding. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.”
