Featured Image Credit: Serhii Okunev / AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Prince Harry, Royal Family, UK News, King Charles III, Ukraine
Ella Scott
Topics: Prince Harry, Royal Family, UK News, King Charles III, Ukraine
It’s been six years since Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced they were exiting England for America, successfully swapping Frogmore Cottage for life in California.
Since then, the pair have jetted off on various tours, including a recent visit to Australia, welcomed their second child, Prince Archie’s sister, Princess Lilibet, and celebrated milestone moments, including the Los Angeles Dodgers' win against the Toronto Blue Jays last year.
Their UK departure came with the confirmation that Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan Markle, 44, would be stepping back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family, with the couple stating they would work to ‘become financially independent’ while continuing to fully support the crown.
“It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America,” they said in a statement, shared on 8 January 2020.
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However, in a bombshell new interview with ITV News, Harry has seemingly walked back on the idea that he is not a ‘working royal’.
The Invictus Games founder spoke to the outlet during a humanitarian visit to Ukraine.
In a speech, he claimed he was in the country ‘not as a politician ’but as a ‘soldier who understands service' and a 'humanitarian'.
When he was asked by broadcaster Chris Ship if he recognised the phrase ‘not a working royal’, he replied in the negative.
“No. I will always be part of the royal family and I'm here working, doing the very thing I was born to do and I enjoy doing it. I enjoy being able to do these trips and support the people that I've met before and the friends that I've made."
The interview concluded after the Duke was asked if his words would have ‘an impact’ on King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s state visit to the US next week.
“No, I don't think so, not at all.”
Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the King and Queen will continue to visit US President Donald Trump at the White House, despite a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
A 31-year-old teacher, identified by US officials as Cole Tomas Allen, is said to be the suspected gunman, with officials finding weapons, including a shotgun and knives, on his person, as per police.
The decision for Charles, 77, and Camilla, 78, to continue with their state visit was made ‘after discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day’, the BBC reported.
The Palace added that the royal pair were ‘most grateful’ to Secret Service members and security detail who ‘worked at pace’, and that they were ‘looking forward to the visit getting under way’.
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said he was ‘very confident’ that the King and Queen would be safe during their upcoming four-day visit.