Meghan and Harry can expect ‘no mercy’ after their stunning decision to quit, say royal commentators

The announcement that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plan to spend more time together in North America and quit their frontline royal duties has sent shockwaves around the world.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent an extended Christmas break in Canada with their baby son Archie, before returning to break the news – and now, the Queen and other senior royals have ordered their teams to find a ‘workable solution’ to the young royal couple’s future roles. 

Here, royal commentators from the national press give their thoughts on the ‘Sussex situation’.

Among them, Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former press secretary,  describes the young royal couple’s decision as an ‘insult’, while broadcaster Trevor Phillips writes that they can ‘expect no mercy’… 

Dickie Arbiter: ‘For the Queen, such a move is unthinkable’

DICKIE ARBITER, Queen’s former press secretary: ‘What they have done is a grave insult to the Queen’ 

‘The Queen will bear this latest insult with the stoicism with which she has faced every other challenge in her life. But make no mistake, an insult it is.

‘And Her Majesty will doubtless be feeling very let down right now, by a grandson she doted on. Ever since William and Harry lost their mother, the Queen has been their trusted confidante. 

‘So she will have been shocked and saddened that Harry didn’t feel it necessary to approach her first. For the Queen, such a move is unthinkable.’

‘Harry was brought up in this institution… he knew what it was about. His wife, perhaps, did not. And she’s decided she wants out. We have seen the influence Meghan has exerted on Harry,’ Mr Arbiter told The Sun.

Richard Littlejohn: ‘Why would the world be in the slightest bit interested in a minor aristocrat and a game-show hostess turned bit-part actress?’

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN, columnist, The Daily Mail: ‘This was no way to treat an old lady’

‘Without the royal connection Harry and Meghan wouldn’t have a brand to develop. Why would the world be in the slightest bit interested in a minor aristocrat and a game-show hostess turned bit-part actress?

‘Even before this week’s grandiose, self-serving announcement, most people were sick to the back teeth of their ‘woke’ grandstanding, whining self-pity, eco-hypocrisy and ocean-going freeloading, especially at the expense of the British taxpayer.

‘What concerns me on a human level is the abominable manner in which the Queen has been treated by her grandson and his wife.

‘They didn’t even consult her before putting out their statement this week. The first she knew about it was when the story broke on television.

‘It is being reported that, in advance of a planned meeting at Sandringham, Her Maj had specifically asked Harry not to make any premature announcement about his future plans, but he decided to openly defy her.

‘At the very least, this was an appalling display of bad manners… You don’t have to be an ardent royalist to be thoroughly disgusted at such selfish, thoughtless behaviour.

‘Leave aside the fact that she’s Queen. This was no way to treat an old lady. Those of us fortunate enough still to have a mum, or grandmother, in her 90s can readily understand how distressing she will have found it.’

Trevor Phillips: ‘Harry and Meghan will join the rest of us in the trenches’

TREVOR PHILLIPS, The Times: ‘Harry and Meghan can expect no mercy from those who like things just as they are’

‘Harry and Meghan’s advisers need to get one thing straight. 

‘Once outside the royal enclosure they will no longer enjoy the deference that Harry, at least, has had all his life. They will join the rest of us in the trenches. 

‘They can expect no mercy from those who like things just as they are and, to be honest, they’ll get short shrift from the many activists who have endured a lifetime of calumny from the media, largely without complaint.

‘If the not-a-royal couple want mentors for their new life, there are plenty available. They’ll need them because baby, it’s cold outside on the progressive front,’ Mr Phillips writes in The Times.

Dan Wootton: ‘Harry and Meghan knew exactly what they were doing when they went rogue this week’

DAN WOOTTON, executive editor, The Sun: ‘Are both of these egomaniacs REALLY prepared to stomach the idea of having to bow to their rivals Prince William and Kate?’

‘Harry and Meghan knew exactly what they were doing when they went rogue this week. 

‘And it’s a move that plunges the Duke and Duchess of Sussex into immediate peril. 

‘Is Harry REALLY prepared for life as a civilian, with no privilege, no security and no formal role?

‘Is Meghan, who is not, as far as A-list celebrities go, particularly wealthy, REALLY prepared to work to fund an extravagant and very expensive lifestyle long-term?

‘And perhaps most hilariously of all, are both of these egomaniacs REALLY prepared to stomach the idea of having to bow to their rivals Prince William and Kate, something that would be expected if they were to give up or be stripped of their HRH titles?

‘But the biggest question of all left by the scandal is this: What on earth has the Queen, at 93-years-old, done to deserve this type of shoddy treatment?

‘Her husband Prince Philip is unwell. She’s been forced to make a personally devastating decision to professionally cut loose her favourite son Prince Andrew as a result of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. And she tried so hard to make it work for Harry and Meghan,’ Mr Wootton writes in The Sun.

Russell Myers: ‘The bottom line is there are no winners here’

RUSSELL MYERS, royal editor, The Daily Mirror: ‘The public will ask why they’re paying for a couple who have neglected the one thing the Queen places above all else – duty’

‘In the palace the feeling of fury is palpable, the sadness felt by the Queen, heart rending.

‘Harry and Meghan have seemingly hoodwinked the monarch and strong-armed the rest of the family to get what they want – and for what reason?

‘The bottom line is there are no winners here. 

‘The Sussexes seem even further ostracised from the family and, perhaps, the British public will start asking why they are paying for a couple who have neglected the very thing the Queen has placed above all else during her reign, duty,’ Mr Meyers writes in the Daily Mirror. 

Ross Clark: ‘If Harry and Meghan feel they are not cut out for royal life, they should have sought to extract themselves from it for good’

ROSS CLARK, The Daily Express: ‘The halfway house they’ve proposed doesn’t work’ 

‘If Harry and Meghan feel they are not cut out for royal life, they should have sought to extract themselves from it for good.

‘The halfway house they have proposed, in which they retain their royal titles and privileges while seeking “financial independence”, doesn’t work.

‘What they are saying is: we want to maintain our royal ­profile, soak up the publicity which comes with life as a member of the Royal Family – and use it to our own financial advantage. It isn’t hard to imagine what will be coming next.

‘Last September the Duchess launched her own clothing line…,’ Mr Clark writes in the Daily Express.

Robert Hardman: ‘The Sussexes’ plans to rewrite the royal rules might be elevated from a grave family row to a full-blown crisis’

ROBERT HARDMAN, columnist, The Daily Mail: ‘Boris Johnson is desperate the Harry and Meghan crisis does NOT become a political pantomime that makes Britain look bad’

‘… the Prime Minister and his Government are hoping that this remains an internal royal issue and does not spill over into the political domain.

‘That was the firm line from Number 10 last night [Jan 9]. It could happen, however. And, at that point, the Sussexes’ plans to rewrite the royal rules might be elevated from a grave family row to a full-blown crisis.

‘Just three months ago, the Labour MP for Halifax, Holly Lynch, wrote a letter to the duchess expressing ‘solidarity’ with her in her battle against ‘distasteful and misleading’ press stories, especially those with what she called ‘outdated, colonial undertones’. 

‘The letter did not offer any examples but it secured the signatures of 71 other female MPs, most of them Labour – plus a handful of Tories and Lib Dems. Miss Lynch then posted the letter on Twitter, to the delight of the duchess who called up to thank her.

‘MPs attacking the Press – with royal support – is one thing. But what if an MP were to write another letter, put down a motion or ask a question about the monarchy’s treatment of the Sussexes? Suddenly, an internal royal struggle would take on overtly political dimensions.’

Mark Steel: ‘Instead of marrying Meghan, Harry should have married Jean-Claude Juncker to help ease Brexit’

MARK STEEL, The Independent: ‘Harry should have known his purpose was to do his duty – not a*se about having emotions’  

‘Harry should have understood his role, and married according to the demands of the country, like in the 15th century when a royal marriage secured a trading route with Spain. 

‘Instead of marrying Meghan, he should have married Jean-Claude Juncker to help ease Brexit, but no, just “me, me, me” with his glamorous American actress, wasn’t it?

‘He should have known his purpose was to perform duty, not to a*se about having emotions. 

‘He should have seen his grandmother married to someone she cared so deeply about, she didn’t bother to visit him when he was in hospital at 98, and thought: “That’s the life for me,”,’ writes Mark Steel in The Independent. 

Gaby Hinsliff: ‘Like countless millennials before them, they itch to be their own bosses’ 

GABY HINSLIFF, The Guardian: ‘If they want freedom so much, let them go freelance and have it’

‘If they really crave freedom this badly, it seems cruel not to let them have it.

‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s yearning to go freelance (sorry, carve out a “progressive new role” within the institution of the royal family) may have burst into the open at the worst possible time for a troubled monarchy – but on a human level it’s easy enough to understand.

‘Like countless millennials before them, they itch to be their own bosses, shrug off the petty bureaucratic constraints of corporate life, travel the world and above all be happy.

‘If Buckingham Palace has responded with the barely stifled horror of a pushy parent whose son drops out of university to become a professional YouTuber, that’s in part because all this exposes an intergenerational clash of values with which many modern families are struggling,’ Ms Hinsliff writes in The Guardian.

Camilla Tominey: ‘[Harry and Meghan] appear to have issued one demand too far’

CAMILLA TOMINEY, associate editor, The Telegraph: ‘The “Sussex situation” seems to have lacked proper management’

‘[Harry and Meghan] appear to have issued one demand too far. With both Buckingham Palace and Clarence House pushing back on the idea of their continuing to hold on to their royal titles and receiving money from the Duchy of Cornwall while “stepping back” as senior royals, they have never looked more isolated

‘Sara Latham, their PR chief, appears to be playing second fiddle to Ken Sunshine, a US-based master of the dark arts, Izzy May, David Beckham’s former publicist, and Nick Collins, a talent agent, all of whom appear part of the Sussex inner circle amid claims royal aides are being frozen out.

‘A power vacuum following the sudden departure of Sir Christopher Geidt, the Queen’s former private secretary, in 2017 has not helped.

‘Some suggested Harry and Meghan had capitalised on the absence of Sir Christopher, reportedly forced out by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, who “ran a very tight ship”.

‘With the Queen turning 94 in April and the Duke of Edinburgh, 98, retired from public life and recently in ill health, the “Sussex situation” seems to have lacked proper management.

‘The complex relationship between Harry, William and Charles has made it difficult for both father and brother to assert their authority, with William’s attempts only serving to further drive a wedge (the heir and second in line to the throne are mentioned just twice on the Sussexes’ revamped website),’ writes Ms Tominey in The Telegraph.

Mary Dejevsky: ‘Prince Harry might well have felt that he was already surplus to requirements’

MARY DEJEVSKY, The Independent: ‘The decision to “step back” makes perfect sense’

‘The Sussexes spent six weeks enjoying family life on Vancouver Island over the festive season and returned to consult not Buckingham Palace but the Canadian High Commission. 

‘Seen from the perspective of the Duke and Duchess, the decision to “step back” makes perfect sense. 

‘With the succession to the throne now secured into the fourth generation, Prince Harry has fallen from third to sixth in line. He has no reason whatsoever to remain “on standby”. 

‘And some of the recent signals from the palace suggested exactly that. 

‘Prince Harry might well have felt that he was already surplus to requirements.

‘Canada is a more open and colour-blind society than ours. If that is where they choose to spend half of the year, why not?,’ writes Ms Dejevsky in The Independent.