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 Queen Elizabeth and other senior British royals were trying to
calm the crisis by thrashing out a plan for Harry and Meghan
after the couple blindsided the family by going public with
their announcement without consultation.
The couple spent six weeks in Canada at the end of last year
before returning to Britain and their first official engagement
of 2020 was to visit Canada House to say thank you for what they
said had been an "unbelievable" welcome.
Their baby son, Archie, remained in Canada as Harry and Meghan
returned to announce that they would step back from royal duties
and build a more "progressive" role for themselves.
Meghan has now returned to Canada to be with her son, a
spokeswoman said.
The couple - formally the Duke and Duchess of Sussex - said they
had been reflecting for months before making the decision, which
would see them divide their time between Britain and North
America to allow them and Archie the space they needed.
They also said they intended to become financially independent.
The couple, who spoke of their struggles dealing with the
intense media attention in a TV interview last October, revealed
their decision to step back from royal duties on Instagram,
leaving senior royals hurt and disappointed.
Discussions over the future had only been at a preliminary stage
and neither the queen nor Prince Charles - Harry's father and
heir to the throne - were consulted on the release of their
statement or its contents, a royal source said.
As the crisis engulfed the Windsors, aides who work for the
queen, Charles, and Harry's elder brother William were trying to
find a solution.
The royal source said it was hoped a successful outcome would
take "days not weeks".
"CRISIS TALKS"
"Queen fights to save monarchy," the Daily Mirror said on its
front page while the Sun tabloid spoke of "Crisis talks after
couple defied Queen".
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While other members of the royal family have had paying jobs, it
was not immediately clear how Harry, 35 and sixth in line to the
throne, and Meghan, 38, could become what royal biographers said
was effectively "half-royal" - and who would pay for their
transatlantic lifestyles.
At the moment, nearly all of their income is provided by
Charles's Duchy of Cornwall estate, although the cost of their
security - estimated by newspapers to be hundreds of thousands
of pounds a year - is currently met by the government.
The Times newspaper said Charles might cut off their funding if
they moved away from royal duties altogether, although public
relations experts said they could use their global fame to make
large sums through public speaking, endorsements or their own TV
production company.
Six months ago Harry and Meghan applied to the UK Intellectual
Property Office to trademark the phrases Sussex Royal and Sussex
Royal Foundation for items ranging from books and charity
campaigns to pyjamas and socks.
"The monarchy needs to be asked serious questions about what
they're up to, it's not good enough to be told to wait for
clarification or to be left reading the tea leaves to work out
what their intentions are," said Graham Smith, from campaign
group Republic, which wants to abolish the royals.
A YouGov poll of 1,327 Britons found that 45% supported the
couple's decision to step away from royal life but 63% believed
their Duchy of Cornwall funding should end.
(Additional reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Guy
Faulconbridge and Giles Elgood)
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