Buckingham Palace Reacts To Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Stepping Down

Buckingham Palace reacted to the news that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were stepping down as senior members of the royal family with a statement of its own. 

“Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage,” the palace said in a statement. “We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through.”

Just a few hours earlier, Harry and Meghan made the unprecedented announcement that the two would be stepping back from their positions as “senior” members of the royal family. 

The duke and duchess also added that they will be splitting time between the U.K. and North America and will be working toward financial independence. 

Amid the flurry of competing statements, BBC royals correspondent Jonny Dymond reported that  “no other member of the Royal Family was consulted before Harry and Meghan issued their personal statement tonight, the Palace is understood to be ‘disappointed’.” 

“This is clearly a major rift between Harry and Meghan on one part, and the rest of the Royal Family on the other,” he added. 

Kensington Palace, where Prince William and Kate Middleton live, and Clarence House, home to Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, have yet to release statements on the matter.

HuffPost has reached out to Kensington and Buckingham Palaces for additional comment. 

Subscribe to HuffPost’s Watching the Royals newsletter  for all things Windsor (and beyond).