THE Queen has reportedly called an emergency meeting over Meghan and Harry’s royal patronages, as Prince William is tipped to take over Harry’s Marines role.
The monarch has ordered emergency meetings with royal aides, to draw up new plans over which family members will take over the honorary royal roles currently held by her grandson and his wife.
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan have told friends they are “resigned to losing them”, according to reports from the Mirror.
The news comes just days after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they are expecting their second child.
A series of announcements were expected from Buckingham Palace before March 31; the deadline set last year for a 12 month review of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to quit The Firm.
A royal source said: “There has been much consideration for some time on these matters and they will be settled before March 31.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit the Royal Family last year to start a new life, saying they wanted to continue to represent the Queen but become financially independent.
After talks with the 94-year-old monarch last year, it was agreed a review would take place one year after they quit.
It was claimed the couple themselves were unaware of what the Megxit details would be – awaiting confirmation from the palace on whether they will be able to keep their royal patronages and charities.
Earlier this week Harry was said to be “upset” at the move after vowing to fight for them earlier this month.
OPRAH CAN ‘ASK ANYTHING SHE WANTS’
Since leaving the UK, the couple have settled in the US and signed multi-million pound deals with Netflix and Spotify – and will sit down with Oprah Winfrey in a tell-all interview to be aired next month.
And Harry and Meghan have been told Oprah can “ask anything she wants” during the “intimate” 90-minute chat scheduled for March 7.
Several major American broadcasters were hoping to land the couple’s first major interview since quitting the Royal Family.
The Queen is said to have every faith Harry and Meghan will honour royal protocol during the TV interview.
Despite this, Mirror reports say the Duke and Duchess did not inform the Queen or other senior royals of their decision to proceed with the broadcast.
The news was said to have sent shockwaves through the palace, and insiders had described the “nervousness” of senior royals at the upcoming interview – largely owing to bombshell tell-all interviews in the past.
Harry’s positions as Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington and Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving were taken away when he left the royals, pending the review.
The Celeb Report understands they are unlikely to be restored now the couple are firmly on the US celebrity circuit.
Harry is set to star on James Corden’s The Late Late Show after filming Carpool Karaoke on an open-top bus.
The titles he earned during his ten years in the Army are not affected.
Patronages such as the Rugby Football Union and National Theatre, which the couple were granted as working royals, are unlikely to be returned — even though Palace insiders point out they have so far fulfilled a promise to “uphold the values of Her Majesty”.
The couple have around 18 royal and private patronages but have not returned to the UK for 11 months.
Meghan, 39, is expected to be the main focus of the Oprah interview. The deal was signed at the weekend.
Harry, 36, previously working on a docu-series on mental health with Oprah, will appear at the end to talk about his family and new life.
Gayle King, CBS anchor and long-time friend of Oprah, said major interviewers and networks had been circling the couple for months.
