THE Duke of Sussex is said to be “upset” after the Queen agreed he should be stripped of his royal patronages and honorary military roles.
An announcement is expected in the coming weeks confirming Prince Harry will be removed from a number of official positions, including his role as captain general of the Royal Marines, reports say.
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Both Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, will have to give up all the positions the kept when they stepped down as working members of the royal family, which are a gift from the Queen.
Included in the roles they will have to relinquish are the Duchess’s role as patron of the National Theatre and Harry’s two rugby patronages, The Times reports.
He is patron of the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Football League.
Harry is also honorary air commandant, RAF Honington, and commodore-in-chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command.
The decision was made as part of the 12-month review of the agreement struck when the couple decided to step down in January last year.
In the deal with the Queen, Harry and Meghan were allowed to retain their patronages for the time being although Harry had to put on hold his military appointments.
“His military work is one of the most important things to him,” a friend was quoted as saying. “Of course he wants to keep them.”
The Palace has maintained that it would not be possible for the couple to be half in and half out of the royal family.
A source said: “There was no choice. The reality of not being able to have their cake and eat it is finally dawning on him.
“I am sure it is really painful for him. He is very upset to be in this spot. But they have made some choices.
“They have lots of exciting things to work on, and that can be done with everyone’s best wishes. But you cannot confuse representing the institution and the head of state with the sort of commercial operations that they intend to run.”
A former senior naval officer said: “I think people would not wish to upset Her Majesty. Nor can I see how, if the rumours that Harry wishes to live in America and even become an American citizen are true, his wishes could possibly be acceptable.”
It is believed the announcement will be made before the review period closes at the end of next month.
There is a grey area over their positions with two Commonwealth organisations.
The duchess is patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and both are respectively president and vice-president of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, an organisation set up by his office in 2018 to mark the Queen’s 92nd birthday.
A Commonwealth source said: “I think for them the novelty has worn off. In the early days they thought the Commonwealth could be their thing. But I don’t see any appetite for maintaining that engagement.”
The couple are expected to keep their private patronages.
These include Harry’s roles as patron of Sentebale, a mental health charity, and the Invictus Games Foundation.
Meghan is patron of Smart Works and the animal charity Mayhew.
Meghan and Harry announced on Valentine’s Day they were expecting their second child.
The pair have also lined up an interview with Oprah Winfrey which is scheduled for March 7.
The “tell-all” interview is expected to be filmed this week for a 90-minute special show.
While there will be “nothing-off-limits” it is said they are “determined not to upset the Queen“.
In December, Meghan reportedly “angered the Palace” by getting Oprah to flog her coffee investment on Instagram, insiders claimed.
Earlier this month Harry accepted “substantial damages” from The Mail on Sunday over baseless allegations he had snubbed the Royal Marines since stepping down.
