Queen Elizabeth to meet with Princes Charles, Harry and William, palace source says
Queen Elizabeth will meet with Princes Harry and William and their father, Prince Charles, on Monday to work out the details of Harry and his wife Meghan's decision to step away from their senior royal roles, a palace source told CBS News. The meeting will take place at the queen's estate in Sandringham.
There is a "range of possibilities" for the family to review, the source said. The next steps will be agreed upon at the meeting, the source said. The aim is come up with a plan in days, not weeks.
"Making a change to the lives of the Duke and Duchess requires complex and thoughtful discussions," the source said.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is currently in Canada with their eight-month-old son, Archie. It is likely she will call into the meeting but the time zone issues may not allow for it.
Harry and Meghan shocked the world when they announced on Wednesday that they would be stepping away from their duties as a senior members of the royal family and will work toward becoming "financially independent."
The pair also announced they would be dividing their time between North America and the United Kingdom. While they didn't specify where in North America they would be moving, the palace source said the U.K. and Canadian governments have been spoken to and the U.S. government is not involved. Meghan, who is American, lived in Toronto while filming the show "Suits."
They made their announcement in an Instagram post and linked to a new website with several details outlined. But other members of the royal family appeared to be surprised by the news, with Buckingham Palace issuing a statement shortly after the announcement saying that "discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through."
Harry and Meghan are not the first members of the royal family to step away from public duties, although they are the highest in the line of succession. For example, Princess Anne's children, Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, are not "working" members of the royal family and Prince Andrew's daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, do not have have official roles in the monarchy.
Prince Andrew, the queen's second son, stepped away from public duties as a member of the royal family in November while mired in controversy over his association with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.