Sussex February Recap
While the Duchess of Sussex was not seen publicly in February, there was still plenty of news about the Sussex's upcoming departure from the Royal Family. Meghan, Harry and Archie are still staying in Canada which made a quick trip to Stanford University in California quite easy. The pair were believed to be meeting with Professors and academics to discuss their new organization which is expected to launch sometime after their official separation from the British Royal Family in the Spring.
Right before Valentines day, the Duchess of Sussex and British Vogue released a new video to celebrate the September issue that Meghan guest edited. In the video British Vogue editor-in-chief, Edward Enniful and Meghan called some of the women who were on the cover and celebrated the issue with sparkly top hats. Late in the month it was reported that Meghan would be attending the MET Gala hosted by Vogues Anna Wintour in May with Enniful, though this is still unconfirmed.
More details emerged around the Sussex's upcoming separation from the British Royal Family including more exact dates, titles and the Sussex Royal brand. The statement can be read in full here but some key points include that there will be a twelve month review of the transition, they will no longer use "Sussex Royal" beginning April 1st, the pair will no longer make a foundation and they will be allowed to pursue financial independence with the understanding they no longer represent Her Majesty The Queen either at domestically or abroad.
The twelve month review period has been instituted to ensure both parties are satisfied with the arrangement and if any changes need to be made, they can plan ahead for it and make alterations as needed. I personally think this will benefit both the Sussex's and the Royal Family as the announcement (in my opinion) was disorganized and created more issues as it didn't seem both parties were fully in the know about this decision prior to the rest of the world finding out. I think minimizing any further confusion and planning for a review after a year is going to be helpful long term.
It was also announced that they will not be using the "Sussex Royal" brand that they had originally planned on due to U.K. laws regarding the use of the word Royal. Legally, the Queen would need to issue a royal warrant for Harry and Meghan to use that word since they will no longer be using their HRH's and will no longer be "working" royals. The pair have therefore agreed not to use Sussex Royal as they have been and will be re-branding this Spring.
They also shared that they will no longer be making a charitable foundation as had been previously announced. In the statement, Harry and Meghan say that they "intend to develop a new way to effect change and complement the efforts made by so many excellent foundations globally." It is still uncertain what exactly this will look like but it has been widely reported they will be following the same model as the Clinton's, Obama's and Gates's foundations.
The final big announcement made in this statement is that they are required to step back from all Royal duties and will not undertake any representative duties on behalf of her Majesty. They do reiterate in this statement that they had wanted to continue representing the Queen, but this clearly was not a possibility as they conceded their private and public endeavors will no longer represent the Queen in any capacity.
Some have reported that there were some lines in the statement that seemed to take a swipe at the Queen or other members of the Royal Family in regards to their opening, the twelve month review or continuing to use the word Royal. I personally don't see these as attacks on anyone in the family or an indication that the Sussex's are bitter as it has been reported. I believe that transitions and change are always hard whether it is a wanted change or not, it is therefore understandable that there would be some frustrations for both parties during this time but I wouldn't classify it as anything other than just adjusting to a very big change.
Finally, the couples last weeks of engagements as working royals were announced. Meghan will return to the U.K. ahead of the endeavor awards on Thursday 5th March which she will attend with Harry. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will then attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music on Saturday 7th March. The Duchess will continue with back to back engagements on 8th March for an event to mark International Women's Day and on 9th March when they will join the rest of the family at Westminster Abbey for Commonwealth Day. xx