From the moment Prince Harry and Meghan confirmed their four-day Australia trip people couldn’t help but compare what they had planned with a traditional royal tour. Perhaps it didn’t help that the last time they were Down Under as a couple was when they were working royals on this kind of official overseas visit.
This time around the Sussexes aren’t representing the monarch and their itinerary is a mix of supporting charitable causes and private, paid events. This combination has raised eyebrows and in the latest issue of Woman, a senior source based at Buckingham Palace claimed, “Harry and Meghan are now acting outside the rules set down for them by Queen Elizabeth”.
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The late Queen apparently set these down “when they first chose to give up royal duties” in 2020. At the time, it was confirmed in a statement that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would not use their HRH titles as they weren’t working royals any longer.
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Buckingham Palace also made it clear that with the Queen’s “blessing” the Sussexes would continue to “maintain their private patronages and associations”, but could “no longer formally represent” her. Beyond this, it’s not clear which “rules” Queen Elizabeth set, however the statement makes a distinction between what they *used* to do and what they are going to do now.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s Australia trip isn’t a royal tour but it does bear some resemblance to one and this hasn’t gone uncommented upon. It’s also been widely reported over the years that the couple initially hoped to have a half-in, half-out arrangement rather than stepping back as working royals entirely.
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Their four-day trip is a mix of royal-esque visits and business which is perhaps similar to how they might’ve imagined this working. Queen Elizabeth is said to have been very much against the idea of anyone being half-in The Firm and made her feelings plain at a summit held at Sandringham House in January 2020.
“The answer from the top was clear: no halfway role was possible. They were either in or out,” claims royal author Robert Jobson in The Windsor Legacy. “Her Majesty’s ruling deepened the existing tensions in the family, particularly between Harry and William.”
No other working member of the Royal Family maintains separate careers alongside their duties. The Duchess of Edinburgh used to have her own PR company and Prince Edward had been head of his own production company at one point.
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Neither have these businesses now and although Sophie says she did “miss it very badly for a while”, she later put her experience to good use as a senior royal. She told Harper’s Bazaar that she tries to use her skills “without overburdening the organisations [she’s] involved with – because [her] opinion is only one opinion”.
The Edinburghs play a key role in supporting King Charles and Queen Camilla and go on plenty of royal visits overseas as part of this. Prince Harry and Meghan’s time in Australia will culminate with the Duchess speaking at a women’s retreat.
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