On Wed. Jan. 8,  Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced their plans to step down from their role as senior members of the Royal Family. This means they will have less royal duties and be working toward financial independence. 

While Harry and Meghan assured fans that the Queen still had their full support, many people were upset about this, seeing it as them leaving the family. The Queen issued a long-awaited statement in response on Jan. 13. 

“My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family,” said the Queen according to her statement on the royal family website. 

In order to achieve financial independence, they will have a period of transition to wean themselves off of the public funds that support the rest of the Royal Family. They will also be splitting their time between Canada and the U. K. 

One of the biggest controversies when Meghan and Harry debuted their relationship was the fact that she is American. Megan spent six years living in Canada while filming her show “Suits,” which is speculated why they are moving there part time. 

“This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity.” according to the statement posted on the official Instagram of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. 

This announcement comes after months of alleged tension between brothers Harry and William. Harry felt that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge never gave Meghan a chance to be apart of the family. However, they released a joint statement denying a report claiming that Meghan felt pushed away from the family by “bullying” from William. 

There have been many pictures of Meghan and Kate on public outings since Meghan entered the family, however, the public speculated that there were tensions from day one. While these are all opinions, it may have impacted their relationship. 

Kate gave birth to her third royal baby in April, 2018 and Meghan gave birth to her first child in May, 2019. It is important to the family that the children have good relationships, so any disagreements are put aside for outings with the kids and their many official obligations. 

Meghan has had many problems with the media since the first time she appeared at Harry’s side, including the “Mail on Sunday” newspaper publishing a private letter to her father. Harry made a statement comparing the press’ treatment of them to that of his mother Diana who died when Harry was just 12 years old. 

With Harry and Meghan stepping back from being senior members, there will be many official obligations that are left up to the rest of the family to attend, adding even more to William and Kate’s schedule. 

This move will cause more change to the royal family, so it will likely take a significant amount of time to completely work out. 

“These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days,” said the Queen in her official statement.