Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be keeping a very important royal perk

‘It is perfectly reasonable’

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made news this month as they announced that they were planning on stepping down from their roles as ‘senior’ members of the royal family, hoping to become financially independent.

It was then announced by Buckingham Palace that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be losing their HRH titles following a new deal, and repaying ‘Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage’.

Releasing an official statement, Buckingham Palace announced: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are grateful to Her Majesty and the Royal Family for their ongoing support as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.’

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“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. 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. We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support.” – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex For more information, please visit sussexroyal.com (link in bio) Image © PA

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Jan 8, 2020 at 10:33am PST

Now, with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie tipped to take up their royal duties, Harry and Meghan look set to start a normal life with baby Archie in Canada – minus a lot of royal perks.

One perk that they won’t be losing any time soon is their diplomatic protection, something that according to a source via People, they would receive ‘whether of not they are active members’ of the family.

‘If you take the Dutch royal family for example, where a number of them work — the King is an airline pilot — they still have diplomatic immunity because of their status as a member of the royal family,’ legal specialist Mark Stephens told People. ‘The same is the case in the Middle East — Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or the UAE. So it’s perfectly normal. There are no exceptions for Harry and Meghan.’

He continued: ‘If they’re covered by either the Canadian or British security services, they will also have the intelligence attached which comes with that. If you employ a private security firm, they won’t have the intelligence which is necessary to provide effective close protection.’

Well, that’s that.

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