According to the BBC’s royal correspondent Jonny Dymond, a palace spokesperson said the Royal Family was “disappointed” after Harry and Meghan released their personal statement.
BREAKING. BBC Understands that no other member of the Royal Family was consulted before Harry and Meghan issued their personal statement tonight, the Palace is understood to be ‘disappointed’.
— Jonny Dymond (@JonnyDymond) January 8, 2020
BREAKING A palace source tells the BBC that senior members of the Royal family feel “hurt” by the announcement that Harry and Meghan are to withdraw from their current Royal roles. The source confirmed that no members of the royal family were consulted.
— Jonny Dymond (@JonnyDymond) January 8, 2020
Buckingham Palace released a brief statement following the Sussexes’ social media post announcing they will no longer work as “senior” members of the Royal Family.
It read: “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.”
Harry and Meghan announced their move with a statement via Instagram, saying they will “make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role” within the Royal Family.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7EaGS_Jpb9/
“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,” they said.
The pair also revealed they will be sharing their time between the United Kingdom and North America.
“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,” they said.
The move comes after the couple spent Christmas away from the Royal Family in North America, spending time with Meghan’s mother and holidaying in Canada.
In an ITV documentary filmed during a tour of Africa, the Duchess of Sussex confessed she has found adjusting to the media scrutiny of royal life “hard”.
“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.
