The Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is trying to defuse a crisis in the British royal family, said on January 13, that she would allow Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, to make a transition and be part-time royals, splitting their time between Britain and Canada to support themselves independently.
"Today my family had very constructive discussions on the future of my grandson and his family," the queen said in a statement after an extraordinary family meeting at her country home, Sandringham.
The Queen is supporting Harry and Meghan's desire
"My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan's desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the royal family," said the queen, "we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family."
The Queen's statement did not answer a number of thorny questions, including who would pay for the couple's expenses, whether they could achieve financial independence without commercializing the monarchy or whether they will keep their royal titles.
However, the monarch did say that the couple does not want to be reliant on the public funds. "Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives," the Queen said.
The statement was clearly calculated as a show of support and an exercise of damage control after the couple announced, "We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen."
The Queen wants the crisis to get settled soon
While the queen acknowledged the complexity of the issues as she made clear that she wanted the crisis to be settled soon, saying she had asked for the "final decisions to be reached in the coming days."
"These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days," the Queen's statement ended with this line.
