Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are carrying out three public charity visits in Nottingham today, putting them back in the public eye just as the argument over their place outside the royal fold flares again. The visits were understood to have been planned at short notice after the three charities they are spending time separately requested them.
That is why the search term is landing now: the couple are not stepping quietly into private life, but moving through a day of public engagements while their status remains under scrutiny. A friend said the issue does not trouble them and that they never agreed they would not be half in half out royals, describing that outcome as something decided and forced on them.
The same friend said they are simply living their lives because they are financially independent. For Meghan, that means a diary that is already crowded with the children, As ever, acting and good causes. A source close to her said Archie and Lili are both in school full time, while she looks at acting offers, meets writers and creatives, and reads scripts. Prince Harry, meanwhile, is expected to attend solo public engagements more regularly.
The backdrop to all of this goes back to January 2020, when Buckingham Palace issued a statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II saying the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were required to step back from Royal duties, including official military appointments, while continuing to maintain private patronages and associations with The Queen’s blessing. Last month, the King's position was repeated when he wrote to public bodies to make clear the Sussexes should be treated as private citizens.
That is where the friction sits. Lord Benyon, writing at Charles's request to government departments and the military, said the charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter undertaken in their private capacity and that their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests. Yet here they are in Nottingham, carrying out public-facing charity work in a way that keeps the old question alive: how much of royal life can be left behind while the public role continues in another form?
HELLO! understands the couple will carry out only a handful of joint public outings over the coming year, with Meghan continuing to focus on As ever and a return to acting. Buckingham Palace declined to comment, leaving today's Nottingham visits to speak for themselves and leaving the wider answer where it has been for years: unsettled.
