Harry and Meghan break silence with new post, as Queen schedules family summit
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have broken their silence, sharing their first post to Instagram after making the shock announcement they would be ‘stepping back’ from royal duties.
After sharing the bombshell news with the world via a statement on the Sussex Royal account on Thursday (Wednesday UK time), the couple revealed they had rather secretly managed to visit a cause close to Meghan’s heart during the week.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned to visit the women of The Hubb Community Kitchen and ‘Together, Our Community Cookbook’,” the post revealed, alongside an images of royal outing.
“The Duke and Duchess were so happy to reconnect with the women and hear about the projects they continue to develop to help those in their community and beyond.”
Despite the positive nature of the post and the outing, believed to have taken place the same day as the couple’s visit to Canada House, most royal fans took to the comments to reveal they were still reeling from the pair’s shock announcement.
“In the end, no amount of money you ever receive from profiting off your royal connections will repair the damage you’ve done to your reputation and to your family,” one angry royal fan wrote.
“Saw this coming as soon as she came into the picture. Sorry, Harry is so easily manipulated,” another replied.
It comes as the Queen calls an historic crisis meeting for Monday, summoning Prince Charles, William and Harry to the summit at Sandringham, The Sun reports.
“This is a landmark meeting which is absolutely unprecedented,” the Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said. The “next steps” for the monarchy are also being discussed, according to another palace source, with an announcement due within days.
It will be the first time Harry meets with his grandmother and father since sharing the news with the world. Despite having returned to Canada, Meghan is also set to join in via call.
Talks over ‘Megxit’ have been ongoing all week with, an insider revealing Harry and Meghan’s pared-back future role would be decided within days, the Daily Mail reports.
A royal source also confirmed to Reuters that discussions were “progressing well” in with both British and Canadian governments involved in the roundtable talks, but some insiders claimed talks could actually still take far longer.
“This is their future and their lives. It's not just going to be quickly signed off,” one source told the Telegraph.
The couple’s shock news - which they reportedly kept secret even from the Queen - raised “complicated issues which will take time to work through” according to a brief and hastily-released statement from Buckingham Palace.
While we’ll have to wait for the dust to settle to find out exactly what the Sussex’s future will look like, they’re not the first member of ‘The Firm’ to opt-out of royal life in some way.
Princess Diana, Sarah Ferguson and Prince Edward all chose to cut ties and live their lives outside the shadow of the Palace.
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