Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan to give up 'Sussex Royal' brand
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan will no longer use their "Sussex Royal" brand. The couple won't use the title for their brands "in any territory post spring 2020," USA TODAY has confirmed.
"While The Duke and Duchess are focused on plans to establish a new non-profit organisation, given the specific UK government rules surrounding use of the word ‘Royal’, it has been therefore agreed that their non-profit organisation, when it is announced this Spring, will not be named Sussex Royal Foundation," reads a statement sent Friday from the communications office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘SussexRoyal’ in any territory post Spring 2020. The trademark applications that were filed as protective measures, acting on advice from and following the same model for The Royal Foundation, have been removed."
On Friday, the couple's website stated "many of the details" of their transition were "agreed at a meeting of The Royal Family in January 2020." That includes a review of procedures after a year's time.
The website also stated that the couple will not be building a foundation, per se, but are pursuing a "non-profit entity" with hopes to "develop a new way to effect change and complement the efforts made by so many excellent foundations globally."
Stepping down: Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's formal step-down from royal duties is set for March 31
The news comes days after the couple set a date they would announced they would be breaking free of the royal family: starting March 31, their office said earlier this week.
The royal couple stunned Britain with an abrupt announcement in January that they wanted to step back from royal duties. Prince Harry said he was taking a “leap of faith” in the move in an attempt to build a more peaceful life – one free of the journalists who have filmed, photographed and written about him since the day he was born.
The prince and his wife will walk away from most royal duties, give up public funding and try to become financially independent. The couple, who were named the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their wedding day, are expected to spend most of their time in Canada while maintaining a home in England, near Windsor Castle.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will also stop using their HRH titles (His Royal Highness, Her Royal Highness) as they are "no longer working members of the Royal Family," Buckingham Palace announced in January. They will be known as Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Harry will remain a prince and sixth in line to the British throne.
They will also repay the Sovereign Grant expenditure for the refurbishment of their UK home, Frogmore Cottage, which will continue to be their family home in the UK.
On Friday, the couple's website specified their hopes for a more private life moving forward.
"The Royal Family respect and understand the wish of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex to live a more independent life as a family, by removing the supposed ‘public interest’ justification for media intrusion into their lives," it read.
Harry and Meghan will stop using 'royal highness' titles and repay housing expenses, palace says
Contributing: Andrea Mandell, Morgan Hines, Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry to no longer use Sussex Royal brand
