Prince Harry, Meghan to close Buckingham Palace office as they finalize split with royal family
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, plan to close their Buckingham Palace office as they step back from their roles as working members of the royal family, a royal source told ABC News.
The source confirmed the closing of office means some members of Harry and Meghan's staff will lose their jobs, saying, "While the details are still being finalized and efforts are being made to redeploy people within the Royal household, unfortunately there will be some redundancies."
Harry and Meghan's office has been based at Buckingham Palace since last year, when Harry and his brother Prince William split their households.
In their new roles that will begin this spring, Harry and Meghan plan to spend "the majority of their time" in North America, according to Buckingham Palace. They are currently in Canada with their 9-month-old son Archie but there is speculation that could also spend time in the Los Angeles area, where Meghan was born and raised.
Harry and Meghan, who will no longer use their HRH titles, will also no longer represent Queen Elizabeth and no longer receive public funds for royal duties, freeing them to earn money on their own.
After a reported speaking engagement in Miami last week, rumors have swirled about what speaking opportunities and jobs Harry may take on in his future role as a non-working member of Britain's royal family.
Both Harry and Meghan attended the reported speaking engagement in Miami on Feb. 6 for JPMorgan, the U.S.-headquartered global financial services firm, according to a royal source.
It is not known whether or not Harry and Meghan were paid speakers at the event for JPMorgan, but it is common for speakers at corporate events to receive compensation.
In the days since that event, it's been reported that Harry, 35, has been in negotiations for a speaking role with Goldman Sachs, another U.S.-based global financial services firm.
While Goldman Sachs has been in discussions with the royal for about a year, the discussions center on a partnership between one of Harry's charities and the bank, not with Harry himself, a royal source confirmed to ABC News.
Goldman Sachs also hosts a "Talks at GS" series that features one-on-one interviews with various people like supermodel Karlie Kloss to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. That speaking series is not a paid engagement.
Buckingham Palace has not commented on the Goldman Sachs rumors and declined to comment on the private schedule of the Duke and Duchess in regards to the JPMorgan event.
The couple also visited San Francisco and stopped by Stanford University earlier this week for a brainstorm session and meetings with professors and academics as they lay the groundwork for their new charitable foundation, a source close to the Sussexes confirmed to ABC News.
Harry's last public engagement was an event for his Senetable charity on Jan. 20, just before he left the U.K. to reunite with Meghan and Archie in Canada.
Meghan has been photographed walking on Vancouver Island with Archie and the family's dogs, prompting the Sussexes' legal team to issue a legal notice to U.K. media and photo agencies concerning the use of paparazzi agency photos.
Last month, before the couple's new roles were announced, Meghan visited two women-focused organizations in Vancouver. The private meetings only became public after the organizations shared photos on social media.
The next opportunity for the public to see Prince Harry and Meghan back in the U.K. could come as early as next month. Britain's royal family, of which Harry and Meghan remain members, will gather in London on March 9 to mark Commonwealth Day in the U.K.
