Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are officially splitting their royal household from that of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The palace confirmed the news with a statement on Thursday, People reports.
The Sussexes and the Cambridges have both worked out of Kensington Palace since, well, always. But now that Harry and William have families of their own, the two couples are going their separate ways. Meghan and Harry will create their own royal household, with Queen Elizabeth's approval.
Meghan and Harry will move their offices from Kensington Palace to Buckingham Palace. They also plan to move off the Kensington Palace grounds to their own cottage before the baby comes.
Some royal fans think the split is the result of tension between the two couples, because those pesky feud rumors will just never die. But given the circumstances, it's pretty natural for them to take some space from each other.
"I think it really is just a shift in priorities and interests,” royals author Sally Bedell Smith previously told People. “William is a husband and father of three and his focus is primarily on them, and Harry will soon be a father."
The palace's statement called the household split a "long-planned move."
In October, outlets began reporting that Prince William and Prince Harry were planning to set up separate courts and go their separate ways.
"The brothers have leant on each other and looked after each other since their mother died," a source told the Sunday Times at the time. "But now they have their own families, they no longer rely on each other as before."
Fans of the princes were disappointed to hear the news, though it only makes sense that they'd become more independent now that they both have wives and families of their own.
However, soon after the initial reports of a household split, rumors of an underlying feud began to swirl.
Some sources blamed Meghan for creating tension between the two brothers. For months, people have speculated that Meghan and Kate just don't get along.
Those rumors haven't quite gone away, despite the efforts of the "Fab Four" to maintain a united front at public events. Fans swear Prince Harry and Prince William just don't laugh and joke together like they used to!
Kensington Palace has now issued an official statement confirming that the two couples are officially splitting into two royal households.
People reports that the Sussexes and the Cambridges are breaking up their joint court at Kensington Palace and creating two separate offices.
The Sussexes' office will move out of Kensington Palace into Buckingham Palace, where the Queen resides.
Queen Elizabeth has agreed to the creation of a new household for the couple.
As previously reported, Meghan and Harry are also moving out of Kensington into a new official residence in Windsor, Frogmore Cottage.
Sources again speculated that this was a conscious decision to move away from Kate and William, who live at Kensington Palace. But it's more likely just Meghan and Harry's desire to raise their child out of the spotlight.
Kate and William's office will remain in Kensington Palace, and they will continue to live there with their three children.
Dad Prince Charles is reportedly in support of the household split.
"This long-planned move will ensure that permanent support arrangements for The Duke and Duchess’s work are in place as they start their family and move to their official residence at Frogmore Cottage," a statement from the palace says.
Prince Harry has had his own office at Kensington Palace for some time. It's been supporting his and Meghan's royal work since they got engaged in November 2017.
He and William have shared their household for 10 years.
Now the brothers have "increasingly different responsibilities" — William will eventually become the Prince of Wales, as the eldest son of his father, Prince Charles. He also has three kids of his own, while Harry is expecting his first baby with Meghan in a few weeks. It's an appropriate time to split up, the Sunday Times reported.
"The arrival of Meghan has changed the dynamic of the relationship in a fairly significant way," royals author Sally Bedell Smith told People previously.
"It is inevitable and practical because it gives Harry and Meghan some freedom to build up their own collection of interests and charities."
And if there is, in fact, tension between the two brothers, formally separating their staff can only help the situation.
The Sussexes will appoint new communications staff, who will form part of the Buckingham Palace communications team.
The Fab Four will likely continue to work on shared projects together, like the Royal Foundation.
"Each of them will continue the very strong representative of the Queen in carrying out tasks and assignments that she, and probably their father, wants them to do. They are going to be sharing in this diffusion of activities on behalf of the Queen," Sally said.
