It's been a busy few years for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who, since announcing their departure from the Royal Family in early 2020, have moved across the pond to California, given a history-making interview to TV presenter Oprah Winfrey and welcomed their second child. But, it seems that their life might get a whole lot busier in the coming years, as one royal expert thinks the pair could be returning to royal life as 'part-time' members of The Firm.
ICYMI (how??), in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they would be stepping away from their duties as senior members of the Royal Family. In light of this, the Queen gave the couple a year to rethink the move and decide if they wanted to make this permanent – which they did, resulting in their royal highness status being stripped.
A year on from their departure, Buckingham Palace released a statement saying: "Following conversations with The Duke, The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of The Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service."
The statement went on, "The honorary military appointments and Royal patronages held by The Duke and Duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty, before being redistributed among working members of The Royal Family."
But, all that could be about to change, with Harry and Meghan's future role within the Royal Family still somewhat up in the air. Speaking on the To Di For Daily podcast, royal author Tom Quinn suggested that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex might one day return as part-time royals. "Meghan and Harry believe that when the elder royals die — in other words, [Queen] Elizabeth — they may well be able when Charles is King to come back and be the part-time royals that they really wanted to be," Quinn claimed.
"So that would be six months [being] working royals and six months in the States or wherever doing their own thing," the expert added. And the idea that the Sussexes could go half-and-half with their duties doesn't seem totally out of the question, given that this was their initial plan. In fact, their exit statement laid out plans to "balance" their time between the two countries, in order "to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth and our patronages."
Guess we'll have to wait and see then, eh?
