The Queen's Ultimatum To Prince Harry — Royal Duties Or Life With Meghan: Choose!
The Duke of Sussex was not allowed to have his cake and eat it, too! In fact, Queen Elizabeth II reportedly put her foot down after Prince Harry attempted to straddle both worlds of royalty and celebrity.
Former royal butler Paul Burrell said the Queen told her grandson he couldn't be only "half in" as a working member of the royal family on Vicky Pattison's "The Secret To" podcast. Burrell backed the monarchy on how they handled the situation of Harry wanting to start anew with wife Meghan Markle but still keep a hand in royal tradition.
"The Queen would have done everything she possibly could do to say to Harry, 'Stay with the working family because you are part of it and the country loves you,'" Burrell explained on the podcast. "But he wanted something else and he went with his heart not his head, and he went with the woman he loves. You cannot blame him for that."
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He referenced one particular moment when Harry asked his grandmother if he could keep his uniform and contacts with the army. However, Burrell revealed, "The Queen gave Harry a choice at Sandringham." According to the former butler, the 94-year-old monarch told Harry, "You can't have one foot in the camp and one foot out."
Prince Harry, 36, and the Suits alum, 39, announced they would be stepping away from their senior royal duties in January 2020. Weeks after the couple's bombshell announcement, the Queen demanded Harry and Meghan drop the word "royal" and drop their "Sussex Royal" brand entirely.
After they departed from the monarchy in March, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex headed to sunny California with baby boy Archie to live in the celeb-filled Montecito community. And though Harry gave up his royal duties to start a new life with the Hollywood actress, he seems to be doing fine. He's busy working on his new deal with Netflix and philanthropic projects.
In September 2020, the royal-turned-Hollywood couple announced they signed a $150 million deal with the streaming service to create their own production company. Harry and Meghan released a statement at the time, stating they will be "creating content that informs but also gives hope" and inspires new generations.
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The power couple is also looking to get more involved in politics, as they house hunt in Washington, D.C., to be closer to the action. While the couple moved to California to "rebrand themselves" as Hollywood stars, Harry and Meghan are making it clear that their philanthropic tasks are just as important.
"Meghan and Harry have a lot of power and time on their hands. They are both looking to reinvent themselves, and together they have chosen to go the political root. L.A. will always be home base, but they have started a low-key search for a place in Washington, D.C.," an insider exclusively told OK!. "Now that they are no longer working senior members of the royal family, travel and accommodations are something they have to work out themselves."
Despite pushback due to the couple's very vocal opinions over controversial matters, Harry and Meghan continue to speak about issues regarding feminism, racial injustice, philanthropy and online spaces. They hosted a Time100 Talks on October 20, 2020, to discuss how to make online spaces a safer, more compassionate and open space for users. They launched their philanthropic website, Archewell — which is a not-for-profit foundation — on the same day as their Time100 event.
