King Charles’s Public Letter on Harry and Meghan’s Status Raises New Questions About Their Place in Britain

It has only been a couple of weeks since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made their return to the United Kingdom after six years of living in the United States, but it looks like the drama of royal life has wasted no time in finding them again.

According to the BBC, the couple was caught by surprise by a letter sent on behalf of King Charles III by Lord Chamberlain, the King’s senior official, to British government officials and shared with the media, which clearly outlined the husband-and-wife’s lack of working royal titles, and label them strictly private citizens.

The note, which was sent on Monday (Sept. 7), was written to clarify whether the couple would be using their His and Her Royal Highness titles upon their return after Buckingham Palace had received multiple questions about how to address Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, per People.

Related: Meghan Markle is Reportedly Eyeing a Return to Acting in the UK: Why Critics Are Pushing Back

Reminding officials that the couple chose to step back from their royal duties in 2020 after facing criticism from the British press and amid alleged tensions in the royal family, the letter states:

“It follows that there is no change to the current status of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their styles as His and Her Royal Highness remain in abeyance and are not used. The charitable work of the Duke and Duchess is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity. In short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests,” according to People.

However, while the letter mainly echoed what had been said in a similar statement by Buckingham Palace in 2020, the BBC reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex only got to see the letter one hour before it was published and weren’t able to have time to respond to it beforehand.

Not only did the letter spell out that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are not to be treated as working royals, but it also made clear that the royal family would not manage their security treatment. According to English newspaper the Manchester Evening News, it read that “any operational security issues should continue to be directed to the relevant police authorities.”

This could almost seem like a blow to Prince Harry, who fought and lost a case for better security treatment for his family in British courts in May after they lost a lot of security personnel when they backed out of royal duties and moved to America in 2020, according to The Guardian.

But the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec), which decides on security for royal and celebrity figures, will be meeting this week to determine how much protection the Duke and Duchess will get now that they’re living back in the UK, per the BBC.

The outcome of that decision is not likely to be made public, though, as a spokesperson for the Home Office — the British governing body — said, “The UK government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security,” per the BBC.

At the moment, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have not responded to the letter or security concerns publicly.