Prince Charles Would Reportedly Be "Open" to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Being Part-Time Royals

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle first announced their plans to step away from the royal family in January 2020, it was framed as a reduction in their royal responsibilities rather than leaving entirely. The Queen, however, told the couple that "in stepping away from the work of The Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service," with the couple eventually relocating full-time to California and taking up private jobs in the United States. But according to royal expert Tom Quinn, who spoke to Us Weekly, the couple could be allowed to return to part-time royal duties when Prince Charles is king.

Said Quinn, the author of Scandals of the Royal Palaces: An Intimate Memoir of Royals Behaving Badly: (opens in new tab) “We’ve already heard Charles say he wants to streamline the royal family, [to] modernize it. I think Meghan and Harry are hoping…Charles will be open to [them being] part-time royals, which is what they wanted from the start.” Quinn added: "“Of course, the queen—who grew up with this sense that you’re either in fully or out fully—she wouldn’t allow [it]...Charles may well allow this.”

He added: "They could do that for half the year and, you know, do their other stuff in America.”

Meghan Markle told Oprah in their bombshell sit-down interview: "We never left the family and we only wanted to have the same type of role that exists...We said specifically we're stepping back from senior roles." 

She added: "We weren't reinventing the wheel here, we were saying, 'Okay, this isn't working for everyone. We're in a lot of pain, they can't provide us with the help that we need. We can just take a step back." She also mentioned that the couple had wanted to emulate the royal family members "who earn a living, live on palace grounds, can support the Queen if and when called upon."

"Our plan was to do this forever," she said.