On Monday, the long-awaited Sandringham Summit took place, attended by Prince Charles, the Queen, Prince Harry, Prince William, and Princess Meghan from Vancouver Island. In a statement released by the Queen's office shortly after the summit, the Queen said: "Harry and Meghan have made it clear that they do not want to be dependent on public funds in their new lives. For this reason, we have agreed to a transition period during which the Sussex couple will spend time in Canada and the United Kingdom."

Full statement:

Interestingly, this statement is the first about Harry and Meghan not using the title of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, suggesting that they may not retain the title under the new regime (opens in new tab). The Queen has stated that this "transition period" will simply be a back-and-forth between Canada and the UK. Even though Meghan and Harry's dog has already been airlifted to Canada (opens in new tab), it feels like a big deal.

The queen's statement comes less than a week after the bombshell announcement that Harry and Meghan will essentially leave the royal family (open in new tab) and become financially independent. Their statement last Wednesday was apparently made without notice to the rest of the royal family, but shortly afterwards the Queen issued the following statement In other words: Harry and Meghan, not so fast.

In the days between the shocking announcement and the Sandringham Summit, sources close to the remaining senior members of the royal family made it clear that everyone was deeply disappointed (open in new tab) with both Meghan and Harry's decision and the way they chose to go about it. However, sources close to Harry and Meghan revealed that they had been trying hard (opens in new tab) to give the royal family proper notice, that they had been miserable for some time, and that the rift between William and Harry dates back to Harry and Meghan's wedding. (Open in new tab)

Harry and William reacted harshly to one report that William had been "bullying" Harry and Meghan, and they said in a joint statement:(Open in new tab) "We are deeply concerned about issues surrounding mental health. For the brothers, using inflammatory language like this is offensive and potentially harmful"

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Meanwhile, Princess Meghan returned to Vancouver Island, Canada on Friday to be with her son Archie. The couple left their son on Vancouver Island, with Meghan's friend Jessica Mulroney helping with childcare, and made the announcement alone in London. The Queen was photographed in Sandringham on Friday.

Note the "final decision" referred to in the statement.

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