The Duke of Sussex has arrived in Canada following one of his final actions as a working member of the Royal Family and just two days after being stripped of his royal titles.
Prince Harry landed down in Vancouver in the British Commonwealth realm of Canada, where he will join his wife Meghan and his 8-month-old son Archie. The couple is expected to split their time between Canada and the United Kingdom after their shock decision to recuse themselves from their royal duties.
Before setting off from London Monday evening, Prince Harry attended a UK-Africa Investment Summit where he met the prime minister of Morocco and the presidents Mozambique and Malawi. At the summit Harry also had a 20-minute meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, reports the Daily Mail.
This January 20, 2020 photo shows the temporary North Saanich home of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan in Vancouver, British Columbia. – Prince Harry was spending the first full day of his new life in Canada on January 21, 2020 after jetting in from Britain to join his wife Meghan following their shock exit from their royal roles. Harry, 35, landed at Vancouver International Airport on a British Airways flight from London Heathrow shortly after 7:00 pm on Monday (0300 GMT Tuesday). He then took a connecting flight to Victoria on Vancouver Island, where he and Meghan have temporarily set up a home from home, having spent six weeks on the Pacific west coast over Christmas with their baby son Archie. (Photo by ALIA DHARSSI/AFP via Getty Images)
The meetings mark one of the final functions Harry will carry out representing the Queen as an official ‘senior’ member of the royal family.
The Prince’s arrival in Canada comes two days after it was revealed that the couple will be stripped of their royal titles in the spring and payback £2.4 million that was spent renovating their residence at Frogmore Cottage near Windsor Castle.
Prince Harry said on Sunday that the couple had “no other option” but to remove themselves from royal life.
“It brings me great sadness that it has come to this. The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly”, said the Prince.
It is currently undecided who will be footing the security bill for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, which could cost upwards of £7.6 million ($9.9 million) per year.
A statement from the Royal Family said: “Buckingham Palace does not comment on the details of security arrangements.”
Chris Mathers, an ex-member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told the Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail that he believes the security costs for the couple could rival that of a Prime Minister.
“They need personal bodyguards all the time. You have to pay those peoples’ salaries. You’ve got to pay for the vehicles they travel in and the aircraft they travel in. You have to pay for the communications equipment they require because it has to be sophisticated so that you can’t listen to it”, Mathers said.
A survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute showed that 73 per cent of Canadians do not want to pay the couple’s security expenses, saying that Sussexes should pay for their own security. Just 19 per cent of those polled said that some cost-sharing between the UK and Canada would be appropriate.
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