Queen Elizabeth’s final proposal on the departure of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle “shocked the world” and was “ruthlessly clear,” experts say.

When Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, announced their plans to take a step away from the royal family, Queen Elizabeth acted quickly to ensure that the details of her proposal were resolved. The queen worked with the couple and other royals to finalize the plan, releasing a statement in support of Prince Harry and Meghan. The queen’s final plan for them “shocked the world,” but was “ruthlessly clear,” some experts believe.

Prince Harry and Meghan wanted to step back.

In January, Prince Harry and Meghan made an explosive announcement: a desire to step back from their royal duties and divide their time between North America and the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth arranged a meeting with Prince Harry, Prince William, Prince Charles, and herself to discover the details.

Once things were finalized, she issued a statement in support of the departure from Sussex, which included the agreement for Prince Harry and Meghan to give up their RHS titles and any public funding.

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“After many months of internal reflection and discussion, we have chosen to make a transition this year to begin to forge a new progressive role within this institution. 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. It is with your encouragement, particularly in recent years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honor our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our endorsements. This geographic balance will allow us to raise our child with an appreciation of the royal tradition in which he was born, while providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty the Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our sincerest thanks for your continued support. “- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex For more information, visit sussexroyal.com (link in bio) Image © PA

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on January 8, 2020 at 10:33 am PST

Was the queen surprised by the Sussex announcement?

It is unclear if the queen was aware of the Sussex plan prior to its announcement. In the documentary The Queen: Duty Before Family?Real commentator Wesley Kerr said he thinks it was a surprise. “The palace made it known that there was surprise that this statement had been issued.”

“I think the queen was quite surprised to receive a public ultimatum,” Kerr explained, noting the Sussex request in her statement, “that we are going to be different types of royalty, that we are going to collaborate with the queen. ” , perhaps on our own terms. “

“The queen clearly adores Harry, but she absolutely refused to be pressured by him,” the documentary narrator noted. “There was no way for her to accept his terms. She issued a firm response establishing her own position. “

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He reportedly had to deal with the situation quickly

Despite being reportedly taken by surprise, Queen Elizabeth reacted quickly and made sure the situation was resolved before anything got out of control.

“Suddenly, the queen shocked the world,” said royal expert Julie Montagu, noting, “going out and saying ‘wait a minute, this is complicated, nothing has been decided and we need some time to resolve it.’ “

“Harry’s announcement put his grandmother in a difficult position and her timing could not have been worse,” said the narrator.

Royal author Tom Quinn believes that the way the queen handled the details of the exit plan was helpful in preventing things from exploding.

“The queen would have been aware that it was a storm, which if not dealt with quickly could explode into something really damaging,” he explained.

“The queen, with so many years of experience, realized she had to step in,” added Quinn. She took control by calling a summit to discuss the plan.

“His final proposal was ruthlessly clear,” explained the narrator of the documentary. “Harry and Meghan could be inside or they could be outside.”