Expert Says
Hollywood Life

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Will Struggle With The Queen On Their Status — She’s ‘The Boss’

Meghan Markle & Prince Harry
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Free for Editorial Use Only. See terms of release, which must be included and passed-on to anyone to whom this image is supplied Mandatory Credit: Photo by REX/Shutterstock (9687843c) This official wedding photograph released by the Duke and Meghan Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, shows - the Duke and Duchess pictured together on the East Terrace of Windsor Castle. The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Official Portraits, Windsor, Berkshire, UK - 19 May 2018 News Editorial Use Only. No Commercial Use. No Merchandising, Advertising, Souvenirs, Memorabilia Or Colourably Similar. Not for Use After 31 December 2018 Without Prior Permission From Kensington Palace. No Cropping. Copyright in the photograph is vested in The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Publications are asked to credit the photograph to Alexi Lubomirski. No charge should be made for the supply, release or publication of the photograph. The photograph must not be digitally enhanced, manipulated or modified in any manner or form and must include all of the individuals in the photograph when published.
Britain's Prince Harry (R) and his wife Meghan visit Canada House in London, Britain, 07 January 2020. Canada House houses the offices of the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom. The Duke and Meghan Duchess of Sussex thanked the High Commissioner for the 'warm hospitality' during their six-week sabbatical. Duke and Duchess of Sussex at Canada House in London, United Kingdom - 07 Jan 2020
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (2R) and Meghan Duchess of Sussex (2L) stand with the High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom, Janice Charette and the deputy High Commissioner, Sarah Fountain Smith, as they leave after their visit to Canada House in thanks for the warm Canadian hospitality and support they received during their recent stay in Canada Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex visit to Canada House, London, UK - 07 Jan 2020
Meghan Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex visit to Canada House, London, UK - 07 Jan 2020 Their Royal Highnesses wanted to meet with HE. Ms. Janice Charette, High Commissioner in Canada to the UK as well as staff to thank them for the warm Canadian hospitality and support they received during their recent stay in Canada. Following their meeting with the High Commissioner, Their Royal Highnesses will visit the Canada Gallery and view a special exhibition by Indigenous Canadian artist, Skawennati. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will also meet different members of the High Commission team who work in a range of sectors supporting the partnership between Canada and the UK. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex last visited Canada House on Commonwealth Day in March 2019 where they met and spoke with young Canadians from a wide range of sectors including fashion, the arts, and business and academia, about their experiences as expats as well as opportunities for young people working in the Commonwealth. View Gallery View Gallery 54 Photos.
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Deals with The Queen? Not so fast says, says this royal expert! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle still have plenty to sort out as they move forward.

Prince Harry, 34, and Meghan Markle, 38, seem more determined than ever to forage a new path — but simply “stepping away” from royal life isn’t as easy at it seems. “You can’t sort of do deals with the Queen, even if she is your grandmother,” Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, told HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE new interview. “I mean the trouble is that they seem to fail to realize that the Monarchy’s like a firm, and everybody works for the boss, who’s the Queen. And you don’t have your own agenda,” she continued, referencing one of Princess Diana‘s best-known nicknames for the royal family (“the firm”).

While Harry and Meghan are drawing comparisons to his great-uncle King Edward VIII, who abdicated from the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, Harry and Meghan’s scenario is unique in that they still wish to do official work on behalf of the Queen — and therefore, remain working royals in a part-time sense. “If they had said, ‘Look, we’re out. We don’t want our titles, we want to live a completely private life, and we’re off,’ then that would be one thing. But wanting to have one foot in, and one foot out is very difficult,” Ingrid explains, which adds to the confusion. “They want to stay working. They want to be working members of the royal family and therefore they want to be funded for when they work for the royal family, and they don’t want to be funded what they don’t.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex shared a fair amount of information about their financial status on their new website, and explained that they were also seeking to gain “financial independence” — suggesting that in addition to retaining some royal duties, they still want to generate income from other work. “Nobody knows the answers, and that’s why it’s caused such a furor here. Because no one’s ever done this,” she continued. “You can’t just step back from your heritage.” While it’s unclear what other work the couple may engage in, they did recently produce their own documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, and Meghan, of course, comes from an acting background. “I think they would have been much better just to say, ‘Look, we don’t need anything.’, Because Harry’s got a lot of money if his mother got $17 million pounds in her divorce,” Ingrid notes.

Though other royals, like Harry’s younger cousins Princess Beatrice, 31, and Princess Eugenie, 29, have their titles along with their own independent jobs (Beatrice works in finance and Eugenie has a position at an art gallery), Harry and Meghan’s situation still differs. “[Eugenie and Beatrice] are not in a direct line to the Royal throne [they are 9th and 10th in line, underneath their father Prince Andrew who is 8th] and they don’t have royal protection,” Ingrid notes. “But Harry and Meghan are saying they want to carry on [having protection], they want to keep doing their charity duties and they want to work for the Commonwealth, which is working for the Queen.” While Meghan has returned to Canada, Queen Elizabeth has called a meeting on Monday, Jan. 13 with Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry to discuss the situation further.