Royal family holds crisis talks at Sandringham over future of Prince Harry and Meghan

The royal family is set to hold crisis talks at the Queens Sandringham estate on Monday over the future of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Prince Harry will face a showdown with his grandmother, the Queen, father, Prince Charles and brother, Prince William, while his wife Meghan will dial in from Canada.
It’s the first time the family have met face-to-face following the Sussex’s bombshell announcement they would “step back” as senior royals and work to achieve “financial independence”.
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The shocking statement was reportedly rushed out after The Sun newspaper reported the couple were considering moving to Canada and possibly even walking away from their HRH titles.
Buckingham Palace responded with a terse statement saying: “Discussions with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.”
Senior royal staffers have reportedly spent the weekend locked in talks over how the future for the couple could work. Key issues up for negotiation including their royal titles, duties, security arrangements, any commercial deals and funding arrangements as well as where the couple will live and their immigration status.
Last week the couple returned to London and visited Canada House to thank them for their hospitality during a six-week break over Christmas when the couple stayed in Vancouver.
Three days later Meghan returned to Canada where she had left their seven-month old son, Archie, with his nanny. The couple have also reportedly taken their two dogs to Canada.
Ahead of the summit a source close to Prince Harry told The Times newspaper he would be “heartbroken” at having to cut ties with his family, but Meghan has warned: “It’s not working for me”.
“She wants to leave … She thinks: ‘It’s not working for me,” the friend said.
“Harry is under intense pressure to choose. It is sad. He loves the Queen. He loves this country.
“He loves all his military stuff and I think it will genuinely break his heart to leave.
“I don’t think that’s what he really wants. I think they want some halfway house.”
News of the Sussex’s decision has sent shockwaves through Britain, with a sense of sadness the rift between the two brothers has become so deep.
Friends and royal aides have spoken of the “hurt” and “disappointment” inside with family. ITV journalist Tom Bradby wrote in the Sunday Times the couple felt they had been “driven out” and said the damage began around the time of the wedding in May 2018 when “damaging” things were said.
He also claimed a bitter split could lead to a no-holds-barred interview with the couple that would be toxic for the royal family.
“I have some idea of what might be aired in a full, no-holds-barred sit-down interview and I don’t think it would be pretty,” Bradby wrote in The Sunday Times.
He said Harry and Meghan find other royals “jealous and, at times, unfriendly,” making it clear that that did not include Queen Elizabeth II nor her husband, Prince Philip.