It was billed as the Sandringham Summit: a meeting of Britain's royal family to discuss the desire of Prince Harry and his wife, the former Meghan Markle, to "step back" from the responsibilities of being "senior royals."
The meeting took place at the queen's estate in Norfolk and involved Queen Elizabeth II; Harry; his father, Prince Charles; and his brother, Prince William. Meghan joined by phone from Canada.
It's not known what was said in the meeting, though the queen released a statement afterward:
Earlier in the day, William and Harry jointly released a statement denying a report in a British newspaper that described a rift between the brothers.
They did not specify which article they were denying, but it's thought they were referencing a story in The Times that claims Harry and Meghan, formally the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, feel pushed away from the royal family by "bullying" from William.
"Despite clear denials, a false story ran in a UK newspaper today speculating about the relationship between the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Cambridge," the statement said, according to news outlets. "For brothers who care so deeply about the issues surrounding mental health, the use of inflammatory language in this way is offensive and potentially harmful."
Among the other changes Meghan and Harry have announced in recent days, they have declared that they will no longer be part of the Royal Rota system, which has given a pool of U.K. media outlets exclusive access to the official engagements of the British royals.
They peg the change to their forthcoming "financial independence," as well as "their wish to reshape and broaden access to their work." They note that according to the rules of the rota system, they have to give photos to the rota — a pool of seven publications, of which four are tabloids — in advance of sharing them on social media, for instance.
Harry and Meghan may well have concluded that the rota system wasn't giving them a fair shake. The country's tabloids have repeatedly cast aspersions on Meghan for the same actions that won praise for William's wife, the former Kate Middleton.
In October, Harry released a statement blasting the media's treatment of Meghan, saying she "has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences."
"I've seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person," he wrote. "I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces."
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