It was with "great sadness" but without having "any other choice" that he made the decision to withdraw from the British monarchy, finally confided, Sunday January 19, Prince Harry in a speech to intimate accents.
"The decision I made for my wife and I was not taken lightly" but after "months of talks, following years of challenges", justified the Duke of Sussex on Sunday guests of a charity dinner in London.
In this first public speech on the subject since the announcement of his withdrawal, he apologized for "not always having done things right", without specifying which ones. "We hoped to continue to serve the Queen, the Commonwealth and my military associations, but without public funding. Unfortunately, this was not possible," he said.
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The British press, which puts this episode in the headlines in its editions of Monday, emphasized the pain felt by the royal offspring, "devastated" according to the Daily Express.
Harry, 35, and his wife Meghan, 38, revealed on January 8 that they wanted to gain financial independence and settle in North America with their son Archie. Without warning Harry's grandmother and father, Elizabeth II and Prince Charles.
If the Duke and Duchess of Sussex initially wished to keep a foothold in the royal family, the Queen quickly undeceived them by announcing on Saturday evening that they should give up using "their title of royal highness, since they are not plus active members of the royal family. "
Queen settles "iron fist" issue
The tabloids, who accused them of "wanting their cake and eat it too", welcomed the fact that the duke and duchess, now freed from their "royal obligations", could no longer "formally represent the queen". The Sunday Mirror welcomed that "the queen orders a hard Megxit", in reference to the Brexit scheduled for January 31.
The couple's stormy relationship with British newspapers, which Harry described as "a mighty force" in his speech on Sunday, weighed in on his decision to step back. Accused of racism towards the Métis American actress, the sensation press regularly attacked Meghan with vitriolic articles.
For protocol expert of the royal family Alastair Bruce, questioned by the Sun, the queen settled the question of an "iron fist" and the abandonment of the title of royal highness is equivalent to "an abdication", since Harry thus finds himself demoted to the same rank as thirty other British dukes.
If the couple will keep their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they will however renounce their royal allowance and will have to reimburse certain public expenses from which they benefited, in particular the 2.3 million euros employed to renovate their residence in the United Kingdom. .
"This is absolutely unprecedented," said Dickie Arbiter, former royal press secretary, in the Sun, noting that "no member of the royal family has ever repaid money," even those who had already deprived of their royal highness status.
The Daily Telegraph said that, faced with the cost of the couple's radical change in life, Prince Charles would financially support his son for at least a year. The money must "come from its income from private investments," the newspaper said.
A turning point in the history of the British monarchy
Before the young prince, who will fall from his sixth place in the order of succession to the British throne, his mother Lady Diana had also lost this status after having divorced Charles in 1996. But it was a " honorary title ", obtained by marriage. It is however the very first time that a Windsor by birth has been deprived of this status.
Many commentators draw a parallel with the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, who by marrying a divorced American woman had renounced the throne. The latter had in fact not lost his title, seeing himself simply demoted from "His Majesty the King" to "His Royal Majesty the Duke of Windsor".
The decision of Elizabeth II thus marks a turning point in the history of one of the oldest British institutions, opening an era of new functioning tightened around the elder branch only.
Prince Charles, who is preparing to take over from his 93-year-old mother, had already expressed his desire to "bring back (the family) to a core of senior members who work full time".
Many royal experts now expect a decline in the lifestyle for the family, many of whose members have a rank worth remuneration.
From an emotional point of view, "Harry, Meghan and Archie will remain very dear members of my family", however underlined Elizabeth II. "I will always have the greatest respect for my grandmother, my commander-in-chief," replied the Duke of Sussex on Sunday evening, moved.
Palace decisions are to take effect in the spring.
With AFP
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