‘Great Sadness’: Prince Harry On Royal Split, Says Will Continue To Serve

Britain’s Prince Harry expressed “great sadness” on Sunday at the way he and his wife Meghan had to give up their royal titles as part of a separation settlement with the Queen. “It brings me great sadness that it has come to this,” Harry said in his first remarks on Saturday’s historic agreement, made during a public address and posted on the couple’s Instagram account.

“Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the commonwealth, and my military associations, but without public funding. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible,” he told supporters of his Africa-based charity for youngsters with HIV at an event in London.

But Harry said he felt “utmost respect” for Queen Elizabeth II.

“It has been our privilege to serve you, and we will continue to lead a life of service.”

“I will always have the utmost respect for my grandmother, my commander in chief, and I am incredibly grateful to her and the rest of my family, for the support they have shown Meghan and I over the last few months.”

Queen Elizabeth II holds talks with her grandson

On Monday, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II agreed to offer Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle a “period of transition” during which the couple can divide their time between the UK and Canada.

After her first face-to-face talks with her grandson and senior members of the royal family at the 93-year-old monarch’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, Buckingham Palace issued a statement, saying as the transition period kicks in right away, the “complex” matter of the couple’s future roles will be fleshed out in the coming days.

The queen’s announcement is her second on the royal crisis—dubbed Megxit in honour of Britain’s painful battle over Brexit—ahead of Harry and Meghan’s effective resignation on March 8.

“We have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” the couple said at the time.

“We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America.”

Meghan then jetted back to Canada and is now their with their son Archie.

Their announcement caught the royal family by surprise and created a media sensation in both Britain and the wider world.

Their treatment by London’s hard-hitting tabloid press and their personal future—as well as questions about longstanding royal traditions—have turned into daily front-page news.