Queen Elizabeth’s Whole Reason for Not Allowing Prince Harry and Meghan’s Half-in, Half-out Deal Is Because of Sophie Wessex
When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their big announcement via Instagram in 2020 that they were “stepping back” as senior royals, the pair stated that they intended to “carve out a progressive new role within this institution” and would “balance [their] time between the United Kingdom and North America.” But as we all know Queen Elizabeth II did not agree to that half-in, half-out deal the couple proposed.
A royal correspondent has said that the reason the late queen wasn’t having it is because of a previous embarrassment caused by, of all people, her favorite daughter-in-law Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
Sophie wanted to continue her career instead of working only for the Crown
The half-in, half-out approach the Sussexes put forth wasn’t foreign to the queen because early in Prince Edward and Sophie’s marriage the Countess of Wessex wanted to do the same thing.
On an episode of the Daily Express’ Royal Round-Up podcast correspondent Richard Palmer told host Pandora Forsyth: “The key thing is the queen, supported by the then-Prince Charles, and then-Duke of Cambridge, and other members of the family, took the view that you can’t be half-in half-out.”
Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield recalled that the Wessexes got “in trouble” when the countess planned to continue her own career while working on behalf of the Crown too. And the Earl of Wessex liked the idea of having another career as well.
“[Sophie and Edward] attempted to half-in half-out,” Schofield said. “Sophie wanted to continue with her PR firm and Edward wanted to be a producer — he wanted to produce content. And when they kind of got in trouble for mixing that royal element in with their day-to-day monetized businesses” it led to the couple being “humiliated.”
Palmer agreed, adding: “Edward and Sophie tried it years ago and it ended in disaster for them really, well, embarrassment, anyway.”
The Wessexes’ ’embarrassing’ scandal when Sophie still ran PR firm
What Palmer and Schofield are referring to is the scandal that Sophie, who ran R-JH Public relations, became involved in when she met with Mazher Mahmood, a News of the World reporter who was pretending to be a sheik.
The countess was recorded making rude remarks about some British politicians and said the public would not like Charles’ wife Camilla to be queen.
According to Palmer, Queen Elizabeth likely didn’t want a repeat of that so she rejected the Sussexes’ approach. “You are always to be accused of cashing in on your royal connections,” Palmer noted while reminding listeners that at the time Sophie and Edward weren’t even “at the forefront of the royal family” like Meghan and Harry were.
The queen said she would have ‘preferred Sussexes to remain working royals’
Many have accused the Sussexes of still cashing in on their royal titles today even though they stepped down and moved across the pond which may have been another reason the queen wanted them to remain working members of the royal family.
Following her face-to-face summit with then-Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry, the queen released a statement saying that she would have “preferred” it if the Sussexes continued as working royals but supported their decision.
“My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family,” part of the late monarch’s statement read. “Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the royal family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”
