Royals

It’s confirmed: The Sussexes have split from their joint charity with the Cambridges

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will establish their own charity, while the Royal Foundation will be renamed 'The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge'.
Prince william kate middleton prince harry meghan markleGetty Images

After speculation that a split of the Cambridges’ and the Sussexes’ joint charity The Royal Foundation was imminent, following a meeting Prince William and Prince Harry had with the charity’s trustees earlier this week, Buckingham Palace have now confirmed the Harry and Meghan will indeed split from the charity.

The Royal Foundation is to be renamed The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, with the Palace confirming the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be starting their own foundation, which is yet to have a name.

According to People, the Cambridges’ foundation will provide support to the Sussexes’ new charity during the transition.

“The development of another foundation for the Sussexes is going to be an ambitious and exciting time for all of them as they look to the future to the new projects they’ve got coming up,” a royal source tells People.

It’s also been confirmed one of The Royal Foundation’s major projects, the Heads Together campaign, will stay with the original charity, however all four royals will continue to work alongside each other on it.

The ‘Fab Four’ at the Royal Foundation forum in February 2018. (Image: Getty)

This major move comes just over a year after the four royals, just three months before Meghan had married into the family, took to the stage in London for their first joint appearance of what was supposed to be an annual event, to discuss the future of their charity.

Now with both brothers being married and having their own families, a palace aide told People that the move is natural given their differing future paths – with William going to be King one day he has less flexibility than Harry – and interest in “future proofing” their ongoing charitable interests.

Speaking of the split to The Sun, royal expert Duncan Larcombe says the move proves Harry and Meghan are more eager than ever to “do things their own way”.

“It’s clear that Meghan and Harry were initially prepared to slot in under the wings of William and Kate but that’s not how they feel a year on,” Duncan says.

“Harry is going to forge his own path with Meghan. For years, before he met Meghan, he was the royal gooseberry standing behind William and Kate.

“He’s now a full-time working royal with his wife, he wants autonomy as to what he does, how he does it and how she does it, which is a definite change to how it was 12 months ago.”

Harry and Meghan are eager to forge their own path. (Image: Getty)

A palace insider has also alluded to the fact the Prince William was known to be quite controlling, especially when it was William, Harry and Kate.

This most recent split is just the latest of several separations for the ‘Fab Four’, as they had been dubbed, after Harry and Meghan officially announced they were splitting from the Kensington Palace court earlier this year to establish their own, which also went hand-in-hand with their move out of their cottage at the Kensington estate, to move to Windsor.

Since then the new parents have also moved their office to Buckingham Palace and created their own Instagram account, to document their royal engagements, charities they support and personal milestones, which included the exciting announcement of the birth of their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, in May.

And, with Harry and Meghan thought to be moving to Africa next year, it would seem there’s still plenty more changes ahead for the Sussexes in the coming months.

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