Queen attends church on eve of meeting over Harry and Meghan

Queen Elizabeth II attended church at her Sandringham estate Yesterday ahead of a crisis meeting to work out a future for Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, after their shocking decision to walk away from royal roles.
Royal officials said the queen had summoned her grandson Harry, his elder brother, Prince William, and their father, Prince Charles, to the rural retreat 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of London, for a meeting today.
The summit reflects the queen’s desire to contain the fallout from Harry and Meghan’s decision to “step back” as senior royals, work to become financially independent and split their time between Britain and North America. The couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, made the announcement last week without telling the queen or other senior royals first.
William is expected to travel to Sandringham from London and Harry from his home in Windsor, west of the British capital. Charles will fly back from the Gulf nation of Oman, where he was attending a condolence ceremony yesterday following the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said.
Meghan, who is in Canada with the couple’s baby son, Archie, is likely to join the meeting by phone.
Buckingham Palace said “a range of possibilities” would be discussed, but the queen was determined to resolve the situation within “days not weeks.” The palace said the goal was to agree on next steps at the gathering, which follows several days of talks among royal courtiers, though “any decision will take time to be implemented.”
Among the details that need to be worked out are who will pay for the couple’s currently taxpayer-funded security, what money-making activities they can undertake and what the tax consequences would be of moving to Canada or the United States.
Harry, who is sixth in line to the throne, married American actress Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle in 2018, and their son was born in May 2019.
While many praised the couple for injecting youth and glamour into the royal family, last week’s announcement marked an explosive turn in the growing rift between them and the rest of the clan. Harry said in an October interview that he and William — destined one day to be king — were on “different paths.”
It also came amid the couple’s growing unhappiness about their treatment by the media. Harry, who blames the press for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a Paris car crash in 1997, has long chafed at the intense scrutiny he receives. The couple have sued several newspapers over allegedly intrusive coverage, and Harry has accused the media of targeting the biracial Meghan with abuse, some of it with “racial undertones.”
The couple’s decision to distance themselves from the royal family has drawn a mixed reaction. Many Britons expressed sympathy for Meghan and Harry but said they should not receive taxpayer-funded security if they do not perform public duties.
There was near-universal sympathy, however, for the 93-year-old queen.
“I feel desperately sorry for her,” said 70-year-old Jean Acton, who gathered with other local people to watch the monarch arrive at church. “It must be horrible — for any parent, let alone if you’re a royal or not.” JILL LAWLESS, AP