The new royal split created by King’s hidden message to Harry and Meghan

The King’s insistence that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain private individuals has threatened to create new tensions over the couple’s status and security. In a letter to government departments, the military and lord lieutenancies, the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Benyon, set out the monarch’s view, reaffirming that the position since Harry and Meghan quit official royal duties in 2020 holds after their return on August 26 to live in Britain for what they have described as an extended period. “In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests,” Benyon wrote. The palace felt the need to provide some clarity to emphasise that nothing had changed and that Harry and Meghan would not be working members of the family undertaking official engagements on behalf of the monarch. But the letter came as a surprise to the couple, who have sought to rebuild their relationship with the King and other royal relatives in spite of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s refusal to speak to them.  It is understood that Harry and Meghan had no inkling that the Lord Chamberlain’s letter was coming and found out about it at the same time as the media. The Sussexes’ office did not respond immediately but a friend of the couple insisted that Harry, as the King’s son and brother of the future monarch, could never be an entirely private citizen. “Some people will say, ‘But they’re private citizens.’ Nonsense. Utter nonsense. They are two of the most high-profile people in the world,” the friend insisted. “The idea that Harry, who is the King’s son and brother to the future King, could ever live an entirely private life is for the birds.” The palace letter, which emphasised that the Sussexes’ HRH style was in abeyance, was seen by some as an attempt to slap Harry and Meghan down amid concerns that the couple will want to monetise their royal status, particularly via her lifestyle products brand, As Ever. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex photographed in Australia earlier this year (Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) Last year, a video accompanying a podcast showed that she had used the HRH style in a card sent with a personal gift. It said: “With the compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex.” It was later claimed that the couple had continued to use their HRH styles ever since they left Britain. But they denied that the private use of the style breached the terms of the Sandringham Agreement when they quit royal duties six years ago. Meghan, 45, intends to launch As Ever in the UK and other markets including Australia after initially limiting it to the United States. But a more immediate concern for the couple is their battle to secure taxpayer-funded armed police protection. They have been lobbying Ravec – the Royal and VIP Executive Committee – an independent group of senior government officials, police officers, and courtiers that advises the Home Office – to reinstate their right to automatic police protection and access to national intelligence. Palace officials insisted that the Lord Chamberlain’s letter had no bearing on any decision by Ravec but it was seen by some as a green light to continue to refuse them security. ‘If they kept quiet, people wouldn’t know they were here’ Dai Davies, a former head of royalty protection at the Metropolitan Police, said: “It sends a clear message and in my view it’s about time.” He argued that there was no justification for supplying the couple – who have a private security team with no ability to use firearms in the UK – with armed police bodyguards. “I think there’s always a potential risk but if they kept quiet people wouldn’t know they were here,” he said. “There are only so many protection officers to go around” He conceded there was an argument that former prime ministers receiving lifelong protection were also private citizens but said they had been given access to official secrets, nuclear weapons codes and other information that made them far more vulnerable to kidnapping and attack. Harry and Meghan argue they too are vulnerable because of his military service in Afghanistan and her mixed-race background. Several people have been jailed for targeting them. Their friend accused government officials of being frightened of upsetting the palace and of repeatedly kicking the can down the road “For the past six years, Ravec – a third of whose committee is made up of members of the Royal Household – has effectively used protective security as a means of controlling Harry and Meghan’s freedom of movement, preventing them from coming and going from his home country as they have every right to do,” the friend said. “There isn’t another person alive for whom the government demands 28 days’ notice simply because they want to enter their own country. And let’s be honest, 28 days is an arbitrary number plucked out of the air by some Home Office civil servant. It is also deeply troubling for a liberal democracy. No British citizen should have to notify the Government that they want to come home. It’s barbaric. “Every government, when it first takes office, likes to talk about its first duty being the safety and security of its citizens. Well, frankly, you either believe that or you don’t. If you do, it can’t just be a soundbite or something you pay lip service to when it suits you.” He added: “And if the government is going to deny them police protection, then we really need to take a long, hard look at ourselves as a society and ask whether we could honestly live with the consequences if – or, more likely, when – something were to happen.” The Lord Chamberlain’s letter states: “Following the decision by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to relocate to the UK, we have received a number of requests for guidance. To help avoid doubt or confusion, The King has directed that the following information be shared. “It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of The Sovereign, and are no longer working Members of The Royal Family. “This position, distinct from the State and Royal duties undertaken by the working Royal Family, and with the personal latitude it brings the couple in respect of financial independence and protection of their privacy as they would wish, will continue to be fully respected.” Harry is expected to carry out his annual series of engagements around the WellChild awards, normally held in mid-September, and it has been reported Meghan is aiming to rekindle her work with her UK-based charities. The couple’s children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet are expected to be starting school in the UK near the family’s reported countryside retreat. The letter went on to say: “It follows 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. “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.” “Any specific questions from official and State organisations about the courtesies which should be extended to the Duke and Duchess, and particularly where recourse to public funds may be required, should be directed to Buckingham Palace. “Any operational security issues should continue to be directed to the relevant police authorities.” Harry is still fifth in line The question of who will cover the costs of security for the Sussexes in the UK has been an ongoing divisive issue for both the royals and the public. Norman Baker, the former Liberal Democrat MP and Home Office minister, echoes the point of contention over whether a prince could be a truly private citizen. “Harry’s right that being the son of the king can’t be undone. And I don’t think he wants it to be undone, probably,” he told The i Paper. “The other point of relevance, at least theoretically, is that he is fifth in line to the throne and that could come into play at some point. It’s highly unlikely given the order of succession; they don’t all travel together for that very reason. But nevertheless, there is a slight difference there. The issue will be whether or not Harry and Meghan try to exploit their royal connections while simultaneously denying that they’re doing so.” The letter, Baker said, did not add any information that wasn’t already public knowledge: which appears to be the King’s intention. “If there’s a purpose to the letter at all, it is to make sure that there is clear water between the royal family and Harry and Meghan, so that if they get into hot water, the royals can say, ‘Not anything to do with us, mate.’ But it’s rather heavy-handed, and they could have done that in any case.” William and Kate made a rare public appearance with Harry and Meghan following Queen Elizabeth II’s death in 2022. The gulf between the former ‘Fab Four’ has never looked wider (Photo: Kirsty O’Connor/AFP) No return to ‘half in, half out’ Last month, royal sources said that although the King, now 77, would welcome having Harry and his grandchildren closer, there was no prospect of the Sussexes returning to official duties and being half in, half out. Charles and William have long been firm on this point, worrying that family members running businesses and doing deals while undertaking official duties for the state opens themselves up to the sort of accusations of abuse of position facing the King’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Under current practice, neither Harry, a veteran of the Afghanistan conflict, nor Meghan would be invited to state events such as Trooping the Colour or the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. Similarly, they would not be invited to the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey or invited to step in for the King to host an investiture or any other official engagement because they are not working royals. It is also unlikely they will be welcomed by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who have not spoken to Harry and Meghan for several years and are still in no mood to reconcile, according to friends. Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, have declined to comment publicly so far on their decision to relocate to Britain but friends said that there were a number of factors behind the move. The fifth-in-line to the throne has missed his friends and family and the UK, they said, and he wants the children to grow up British and go to school in the UK.