The Royal Family will today gather at Sandringham to thrash out a way forward for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
The Royal Family will today gather at Sandringham to thrash out a way forward for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Here are the key issues facing them.
THE HRH QUESTION
Harry and Meghan wish to continue to undertake duties on behalf of the Queen and for that they will need titles.
They could voluntarily relinquish their HRHs and retain their courtesy titles, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, given by the Queen. However the couple’s new brand – Sussex Royal – is built around the kudos of being a royal highness.
Losing this would it signal this is an abdication in all but name and it would mean the couple being lower down the pecking order than Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
But members of the Royal Family do not see any benefit in them losing their titles either. They are acutely aware of the disastrous consequences when Harry’s mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, lost her HRH status as the public believed she had been vengefully stripped of her status.
THE SUSSEX MARTYRS?
‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex deeply believe in the role of The Monarchy, and their commitment to Her Majesty The Queen is unwavering,’ the couple say on their new website.
If their hope of being able to continue to support the Queen is not accepted by the rest of the family, it will give the Sussexes the martyrdom they crave and make the monarchy look old-fashioned.
But the family’s biggest fear is that a ‘one foot in, one foot out’ approach to being a member of the Royal Family is unworkable.
One option is that Harry and Meghan keep their personal patronages but also attend big set-piece family events such as Trooping The Colour.
All other royal duties would be dramatically scaled back although a moot point is the Commonwealth as the Queen made them president and vice-president of her Commonwealth Trust. Can this be reconciled now?
The family’s biggest fear is that a ‘one foot in, one foot out’ approach to being a member of the Royal Family is unworkable
THIS COULD BE COSTLY
Harry will be handed documents compiled after discussions with tax authorities in the UK and Canada. They include the warning he could face a ‘double tax’ on commerical income and bills running into the millions from multiple authorities.
Canada requires residents and some property owners to pay income tax on global earnings. Similar rules apply in the UK.
This means Harry may have to give up his UK residency or limit his time in Canada if he does not want to pay taxes in both places.
WILL CHARLES PAY?
Harry and Meghan have made great virtue of relinquishing their funding via the Sovereign Grant, basically taxpayers’ money.
They claim this is just five per cent of their funding and has been spent specifically on official office expenses. But they also get public money for travel for official engagements here and abroad. If they are travelling further afield, this could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.
Their website states for the first time that 95 per cent of their annual funding comes from the Duchy of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales’s private estate. The bill is estimated to be around £2.3million but will Charles want to continue to foot this?
Their website states for the first time that 95 per cent of their annual funding comes from the Duchy of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales’s private estate. Pictured: Charles, William and Harry with Sir David Attenborough
THE FERGIE FACTOR
The couple claim there is ‘precedent’ for holding a title and earning an income. But this is currently only Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
None received any official funding and are only asked to accompany the Queen on a handful of engagements each year.
Harry and Meghan are high-profile figures who currently undertake 200-plus engagements a year between them.
Other royals who have tried this route include the Duchess of York, who has made a string of disastrous business deals.
CASHING IN
What does the couple’s stated aim to ‘work to become financially independent’ mean?
Will they take deals to promote products or bring out autobiographies or start producing their own films and documentaries?
‘It sends shudders down the spine and raises fundamental questions about the monitarisation of the monarchy,’ said one source. He added the Queen has been clear that ‘members of the Royal Family do not benefit as a result of their position. The new so-called progressive model seems to fly in the face of that’.
Will the couple take deals to promote products or bring out autobiographies or start producing their own films and documentaries? Pictured: Harry talking to Disney CEO Robert Iger while Meghan embraces Beyonce
HOME COMFORTS
Harry and Meghan wish to keep Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate, which was refurbished with £2.4million from taxpayers.
The Queen still owns the property but gave it to the Sussexes to live in for as long as they wanted. It is relatively modest by royal standards and the couple have always had their eye on a country bolt-hole too.
Surveys have made clear the public will not stomach them still owning Frogmore while spending most of their time abroad.
Harry and Meghan wish to keep Frogmore Cottage (pictured) on the Windsor Estate, which was refurbished with £2.4million from taxpayers
STAYING SAFE
As royals, the couple are entitled to 24/7 taxpayer-funded protection at home and abroad, and whether on official duties or on holiday. They have made it clear they believe this should continue.
The couple’s security bill is close to £1million a year. The Met Police has indicated it cannot write an open-ended cheque if they live abroad. The police will not turn their backs on Harry and Meghan but a compromise is needed.
As royals, the couple are entitled to 24/7 taxpayer-funded protection at home and abroad. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan’s security cars