Advertisement

Prince Harry says the decision to step back from royal duties was his

Photo credit: Pool - Getty Images
Photo credit: Pool - Getty Images

From Red Online

Prince Harry says there was 'no option' but for he and his wife Meghan Markle to step back from their royal duties following gruelling press scrutiny and bullying.

In a moving speech made at a Sentebale event on Sunday 19 January, he said that he had hoped to carry on serving the Queen, but without public funding, although sadly that wasn't permitted.

On Saturday, the Queen released a statement in which she revealed that Harry and Meghan would lose their royal titles.

'I can only imagine what you may have heard and perhaps read over the past few weeks,' he said, speaking to Sentebale reception audience. 'So I want you to hear the truth from me as much as I can share, not as a prince or a duke but as Harry.'

He said that with Meghan, he had found the 'love and happiness I had hoped for all my life', but that the media had left them with 'no option' but to step back. Harry also said that the decision has been his, refuting claims that Meghan was behind the idea.

'I know that you’ve come to know me well enough over all these years to trust that the woman I chose as my wife upholds the same values as I do. And she does,' he said.

'For those reasons, it brings me great sadness that it has come to this. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly… there really was no other option.'

Harry also referenced his mother, Diana, the Princess of Wales: 'I have grown up feeling support from so many of you, and I watched as you welcomed Meghan with open arms as you saw me find the love and happiness that I had hoped for all my life. Finally, the second son of Diana got hitched, hooray!'

He also added: 'When I lost my mum 23 years ago, you took me under your wing'.

The prince said he had the most utmost respect for his grandmother 'my commander in chief', and that he and Meghan would continue to serve people in a committed way. He also said the severity of the decision was an indication of how difficult things had become for his young family.

'I hope that helps you understand what it had to come to, that I would step my family back from all I have ever known, to take a step forward into what I hope can be a more peaceful life,' he said.

The duke and duchess will now divide their time between the UK and Canada. Meghan is already in Vancouver with baby Archie, where she has already paid a visit to a local women's refuge.

Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.

SIGN UP


You Might Also Like