Everything You Need To Know About Harry And Meghan's New Royal Roles

and also you thought the last season of Netflix’s The Crown was tense: On Wednesday (January 8), Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, reported they intend to “step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family,” thereby upending The Firm’s sort of things forever. No longer do they wish to create being royal their full-time job. As an alternative, they hope work to be “financially independent, while continuing to totally support Her Majesty The Queen” and “carve out a progressive new role within [the] institution.”


The announcement shocked people once it hit Instagram by way of the the couple’s joint account, @SussexRoyal, however it’s been a long time coming. Harry and Meghan noted that they made the decision “after several months of reflection and internal discussions,” and this is also far from the initial time they’ve voiced understandable agitation with the hurdles they’ve had to navigate as a couple, including the vitriol people have directed toward Meghan specifically. (The problem goes in back of the predatory tabloids, too: Remember any time Princess Michael of Kent wore a racist blackamoor brooch to Meghan’s first meeting with Harry’s entire family?)


Between the announcement plus a terse follow-up from Buckingham Palace itself, there’s a lot up airborne. Here’s what we do know so far.


Are Harry and Meghan giving up the Crown?


Not quite, since it wasn’t likely they would ever have a crown to give up. (The tiara Meghan wore to their wedding was cute and rare, however doesn't quite count.)


Harry is sixth in line for the throne, in back of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who currently sits on the throne; his father, Prince Charles; his brother, Prince William; and William’s three children with Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. (The official royal website still lists Harry on its succession chart, soon after Will and Kate’s third child, Prince Louis, and right before Harry and Meghan’s son, Master Archie.) King Edward VIII is still the only member of the British royal family member to ever formally abdicate, which he did in 1936 so he might marry American socialite Wallis Simpson.


Although Harry and Meghan are eventually divesting from the Sovereign Grant, which are public funds that cover royal duties as they pertain to supporting the Queen, like appearances, patronages of certain charities, and visits to Commonwealth countries. The Sovereign Grant currently accounts for 5 percent of Harry and Meghan’s expenditure; the bulk of which comes from Prince Charles’s estate, the Duchy of Cornwall. The other 95 percent of their expenditure comes from the several million dollars Harry has inherited and will inherit from his great-grandmother and his mother, Diana. As for Meghan, she was doing just fine for herself well before she met Harry, between her acting career and style and lifestyle collaborations.


Senior royals can’t make some cash outdoor of the family member organization, nevertheless other members of the royal family have contained or still hold day jobs.


How does the Queen feel about this?


It’s hard to mention. The Deputy Communications Secretary to The Queen provided a statement that said: "Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their wish to take a different approach, however these are complex issues that will take time to work through.”


It was terse, was vague, and it also would seem that Harry’s grandmother is not happy. BBC Royal correspondent Jonny Dymond tweeted that “the Palace is understood to be ‘disappointed.’”


On Thursday (January 9), People reported that the Queen summoned the rest of the immediate Royal family member for a “emergency meeting” about Harry and Meghan.


“This has moved from shock as well as a length of emotions to something more constructive. It is complicated,” a source mentioned. “This is happening very speedily. And the proof in that is the fact that this will take days and not weeks.”


Notably, this isn’t the initial time a member of the royal family member has stepped down from their duties. Late last year, Prince Andrew decided to withdraw from “public duties for the foreseeable future,” right after his friendship with sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein drew major scrutiny. At least two Epstein survivors have also accused the Prince of predation; he has denied any wrongdoing.


But this has been a long time coming, right?


Probably! Harry and Meghan began dating in mid-2016, yet the opening formal acknowledgement of their relationship actually came in a November 2016 statement condemning “the sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments” which were directed at Meghan, who is Black and biracial. As The Cut explains, the British tabloids have been particularly vicious towards Meghan, even soon after repeated pleas by the royal family member to stop. This is surprising in part as the regular royal response to tabloids is that infamous “stiff upper lip.”


“I never thought that this could be easy, yet I thought it could be fair, and that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile,” Meghan said in a documentary released in October 2019.


The couple has also been understandably protective of their private life, and of the life of their son. (While Archie's christening was private, as most royal christenings are, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not publicly name their son’s godparents.) In October 2019, Harry and Meghan sued the British tabloids that were accountable for publishing a letter she wrote her estranged father, begging him to stop acting out in front of the press; along with allegedly hacking Harry’s phones. In a statement, the Prince condemned the “relentless propaganda,” and added, “I’ve seen what occurs once someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person.”


Princess Diana of Wales died in a vehicle crash in August 1997; her driver had been attempting to evade paparazzi that, for years, had notoriously followed William and Harry’s mother to the point of harassment.


“I lost my mother,” Harry mentioned in his October statement, “and right now I watch my spouse falling victim to the same powerful forces.”


On their website, the Duke and Duchess say they are working on a new way of engaging with the press, excusing themselves from the “Royal Rota” system, which functions somewhat like the White Home press pool. As a substitute, the Sussexes will prioritize supplying “access to credible media outlets focused on goal news reporting to cover key moments and events.” They also highlighted a dedication to “grassroots media organisations and young, up-and-coming journalists,” and also their own social media accounts.


OK, so as soon as is this coming to The Crown?


Probably never! We’re currently on season 3 of the hit Netflix show, which is slated to end soon after six seasons. That last installment is supposed to cover the 2000s, so while we are going to will most likely visualize a young Harry at some point, don’t expect to be able to see this already dramatic fallout.


“To be truthful, whichever the life of The Crown is soon after where we are right now, I doubt we'll ever go as far into the present day,” executive producer Suzanne Mackie has said.


At least we have the 2018 Lifetime movie, Harry and Meghan: Becoming Royal.