Prince Harry and Meghan's exit from the royal family could take up to six months to negotiate, sources say. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry and Meghan's exit from the royal family could take up to six months to negotiate, sources say. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Harry and Meghan's break-up with the royal family could take up to six months to complete, according to insiders.
It comes as Meghan's half-sister, Samantha Markle, blamed the couple for a "smear campaign" against their father and warned the world could hear from Thomas Markle "very soon."
On Monday, the Queen promsied "final decisions" over the couple's future within the royal family would be made in "coming days".
Since then, no announcement has been forthcoming from Buckingham Palace despite royal staffers working around the clock with government officials to nut out a divorce deal that will allow the Sussexes to move to Canada, make their own corporate deals and become "financially independent".
But as the week draws to a close, there are still several "major issues" yet to be resolved, a government source told The Sun.
"We've drafted in from different departments and are working with representatives from governments who we have had little or no previous cause to work with, to try and get something to present on paper immediately," the source said.
"This is not something we can just magic up. Those at the Palace were left aghast as the Sussexes' plans were revealed so soon after being virtually non-existent apart from publishing a new website, news.com.au reports.
"It requires a great deal of work on complex issues such as tax, copyright, intellectual property, not to mention a legal agreement with the royal institution over using the royal brand in the private sector.
"There are legal issues to contend with, how future deals will be presented and of course who will be working with them."
The insider added: "So many questions need addressing, all of which will take up to six months to get over the line.
"The best there will be in the immediate future is a halfway house that will look like a deal is in place to placate all parties while everyone else puts their lives on hold until this is sorted."
SAMANTHA MARKLE SPEAKS OUT
It comes as Meghan's half sister, Samantha, toldThis Morningthat both her and Meghan's father, Thomas, would have "quite a bit to say soon" about the latest family drama.
She described Meghan's latest public appearance at a Vancouver women's shelter as a "PR stunt" and said she did not see a reconciliation on the cards for the father and daughter who could face-off in court in a case the Duchess has brought against the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
"He's disappointed...I don't see a reconciliation at this time," she told the show. "There's too much water under the bridge and if it was just a matter of miscommunication or erroneous, misunderstanding...that would be one thing but there seems to be a lot of deliberate ignoring and disregard of the family and PR attacks that were allegedly very structured," she said.
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Ms Markle added that her father Thomas had still not met his son-in-law Prince Harry and grandon Archie and "I will let him address that at a future date."
She also laid the blame for the royal "step back" at her half-sister's feet, saying "I'm feeling it was her decision because she wasn't happy with the criticism that was taking place publicly."
BRAVE NEW MEDIA STRATEGY
On Thursday, Prince Harry stepped out for what may have been his last official engagement as a full-time working royal and provided a glimpse of what can be expected from the couple in their new media strategy.
It's exactly the sort of encounter the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are hoping to avoid under their new, strict publicity plan.
According to the couple's website, the royals will prioritise working with "grassroots media organisations and young, up-and-coming journalists" going forward, and will "no longer participate in the Royal Rota system".
The royal rota system, which was established in the UK more than 40 years ago, gives a core group of approved British media outlets access to the royal family in exchange for comprehensive and positive coverage of their charity work.
But the Sussexes' relationship with the media has deteriorated in recent years, thanks to what they've described as a "ruthless" campaign of bullying against Meghan, and they now hope to use their massive following on social media to speak directly to the public themselves.
A live video posted on their official Instagram account on Thursday showing behind the scenes footage of Prince Harry at Buckingham Palace, for example, may be the new standard.
But as the BBC's media editor, Amol Rajan, explained last week: "The huge challenge they face stems from the fact that traditional media, while much weaker, are far from dead: tabloid newspapers and TV and radio bulletins reach millions of people in Britain every day. They're going nowhere fast. They still have influence".
"It therefore does matter – albeit less than it once did – if your relations with, for instance, royal correspondents at the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail deteriorate."
Rebecca English, The Daily Mail's royal correspondent, addressed her relationship with Prince Harry in a highly personal, first-person piece published on Friday.
