What does the royal household split actually mean?

From House Beautiful

This week it was confirmed that Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will split royal Households, meaning the 'Fab Four' will no longer be grouped together professionally from their joint office in Kensington Palace.

But the separation of the Cambridges and the Sussexes is a bigger deal than simply relocating Meghan and Harry's office. Here's how the division will change things:

1. The Royal Foundation could cease to exist

Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle set up The Royal Foundation as an overarching organisation to look after the foursome's charity work. The Foundation consists of the royals' Heads Together mental health initiative, The Invictus Games, Meghan's Together cookbook and more. But while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have always worked together in this, the division of Households may spell the end of The Royal Foundation in its current form.

Royal correspondent Rebecca English tweeted following the announcement that 'the future of their Royal Foundation is unsure'. The expert went on to say that, while nothing has been confirmed, 'it seems likely the Foundation will be dismantled'. Alternatively, the Foundation may continue to exist, but with just Meghan and Harry working on it, and not William and Kate.

2. Meghan and Harry will probably have separate social media accounts

None of the royals (apart from Princess Eugenie) have their own personal Instagram and Twitter accounts, but Kensington Palace does have its own set of accounts where it shares details of William, Kate, Harry and Meghan's work and lives. When the Household splits in two, however, it wouldn't make sense for the couples to continue to share social media accounts.

With Prince William and Kate Middleton staying put in Kensington Palace, it seems logical that they (or their communications team) would retain ownership of the Kensington Palace Instagram and Twitter accounts – and the millions of followers that come with them. Social media is a large part of how the public keep up with what the royals are doing, however, so it seems likely that Meghan and Harry (and their unborn baby) will get their own social media accounts after the split.

3. The families will have their own separate communications teams

At the moment, the Cambridges and the Sussexes share a comms team as part of their shared Household. But as the brothers separate and their royal roles take new directions, they'll require individual staff to manage their needs.

It was confirmed that Meghan and Harry have hired Sara Latham to head up their new PR team, and she's got a pretty impressive CV. Sara previously worked on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, as well as having worked for Barack Obama and for the UK government, supporting Tessa Jowell when she was the Culture Secretary.

4. Prince Harry will take on more of a supporting role than Prince William

Being sixth in line to the throne, Prince Harry is pretty unlikely ever to become King. That means his royal role is going in a very different direction to his brother, Prince William's. William will become the new Prince of Wales when Charles becomes King, and later King himself, so he'll be taking on more responsibilities of that ilk, with the Duchess of Cambridge supporting him.

Harry and Meghan, meanwhile, will focus more on the Commonwealth. Prince Harry is President of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust, as well as a Commonwealth Youth Ambassador. Meghan, meanwhile, was recently appointed Vice President of the Queen's Commonwealth Trust on International Women's Day, and has said she intends to place a focus on the work the Trust does to support women and girls.

When the household splits in spring, Harry and Meghan's role will become more and more like Harry's aunt and uncles. Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward are all full-time working royals, but we see a bit less of them than we do Charles and Camilla because they're more senior in the family.

5. Meghan and Harry will move out of Kensington Palace

People were surprised when it was announced that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry would be moving out of Nottingham Cottage in Kensington Palace, choosing to make Frogmore Cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle their official residence instead. But now we know about the couples' household splitting, it makes sense.

Meghan and Harry's move will take place any time now, following extensive renovations to turn it back into a family home after having been used as staff quarters in recent years. But the Sussexes aren't just moving out of Kensington Palace residentially – their office will also relocate home. News of the royal separation means the couple are also relocating their office to Buckingham Palace, where they'll be professionally based from now on.

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