King Charles had an underlying message for Harry and Meghan in his "heavy handed" letter addressing the couple's status following their return to the UK, a commentator has said. Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, stepped back as senior working royals in early 2020, and moved to California with their two young children.
Frosty relations and a surprise return
Relations between the Sussexes and the Palace have reportedly been frosty in the years since, with the Sussexes airing public criticism of the Royal Family. Harry also famously detailed his alleged disputes with elder brother and heir to the throne Prince William, as well as his unhappiness as a central figure in the firm in his bombshell, best-selling memoir Spare, released in 2023. The move is believed to have added to the fraught atmosphere between him and the famously private family.
Despite the reported friction between the Palace and the Sussexes, the Duke has made short trips to see the King, who is undergoing cancer treatment, and visited him with Meghan and their children in July. But there has been little sign that the couple were keen on return to live in the UK in recent years, with them seemingly preferring the relative anonymity of life in Montecito, an exclusive town in Santa Barbara, California.
That was until the surprise announcement last month that they would be moving back, with their children enrolling in schools in the UK.
Palace guidance on royal status
Following their return, the Palace's most senior officer Richard Benyon, put out guidance to senior officials in the Government and military reaffirming the King's position on the Sussexes' status. The letter noted that the pair are "no longer working Members of The Royal Family" and that there is "no change to the current status of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex".
"Their styles as His and Her Royal Highness remain in abeyance and are not used." It added that the "charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity. In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests".
Commentator calls move 'so heavy handed'
Kevin Maguire, an associate editor and columnist for The Mirror made one of his regular appearances on Good Morning Britain, and said the move from the King to issue guidance on his behalf was "so heavy handed". Mr Maguire said the monarch has basically "put [The Sussexes] in their place, not a palace".
"And it's rather like if you have a kid, who you're going to ground, you're not going to ring round every youth club shop and say don't serve them," he added. The veteran journalist said what the King has "really said" is "when they turn up anywhere, don't roll out the red carpet".
Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II famously held a Sandringham "summit" where it was said to have been agreed that the Sussexes couldn't have a semi-royal role after stepping back from frontline duties, and were either in or out. They were allowed to retain certain patronages of charities but could no longer represent the monarch or royal family.
Late last month Royal commentator and the Daily Mail's Editor-at-Large, Allison Boshoff, said she was told by a friend of the Sussexes that the pair won't be engaging in commercial activities in Britain in the years ahead, making their money abroad instead. The suggestion is that this could help them stay on the right side of the agreements made with the late monarch, which were broadly to keep their sources of income and royal status separate, and not appear to be working on the Crown's behalf, reports suggest.
