Speaking at a private dinner over the weekend, Prince Harry delivered an emotional speech where he set the record straight on his and Meghan Markle’s decision to leave their senior roles in the royal family.
The speech came after Buckingham Palace released a statement after a week of talks saying that whilst the pair will still be called the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they will lose their public funding and also repay the taxpayer for the renovations of their house.
Calling the move, a ‘leap of faith’, Harry, who will keep his Prince title, said: “Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth, and my military associations without public funding. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.”
Continuing to say that they had, “no other option,” Harry was visibly talking from the heart, as “not as a prince, or a duke, but as Harry.” He also said he had found the “love and happiness I had hoped for all my life,” with Meghan.
“I know that you’ve come to know me well enough over all these years to trust that the woman I chose as my wife upholds the same values as I do. And she does,” he added.
Harry revealed that the pair had done everything they could to throw themselves into their roles and represent the country. “For those reasons, it brings me great sadness that it has come to this.
“The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly … there really was no other option.”
He went on to add: “I have accepted this, knowing that it doesn’t change who I am or how committed I am. But I hope that helps you understand what it had to come to, that I would step my family back from all I have ever known, to take a step forward into what I hope can be a more peaceful life.”
Harry also thanked his family for his support and put the blame for the decision firmly in the hands of the press calling them a ‘powerful force’, and that the UK will remain his home, ‘and a place that I love.’
Harry concluded by saying himself and Meghan will continue to, ‘lead a life of service. I will continue to be the same man who holds his country dear and dedicates his life to supporting the causes, charities and military communities that are so important to me.’
It remains to be seen how their new roles in the public eye will play out, but we wish the couple all the best.
