Royal Fallout: What does Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's abrupt Departure mean for a British monarchy struggling to stay relevant?

• Author: Grise, Chrisanne
• Position: INTERNATIONAL

It was the Instagram post that shocked the world. In January, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, announced that they wanted to "step back" from their royal duties. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as they're also known, had a new baby and were growing weary of the intense and sometimes hateful coverage from Britain's tabloid press. They declared that they'd split their time between the United Kingdom and North America while working to become financially independent.

"After many months of reflection and internal discussions," their post read, "we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution."

The ensuing drama, dubbed "Megxit" by British tabloids, plunged the monarchy into perhaps its greatest crisis since the 1997 death of Princess Diana, the mother of Harry and his older brother, Prince William. After a few days of tense negotiations with the royal family, Harry and Meghan were essentially forced to step down rather than step back. In order to break away, the couple agreed to give up state funds, stop using their "Royal Highness" titles, and pay back $3 million in taxpayer money that was used to renovate their house last year.

All the controversy brought renewed attention to the fact that the monarchy is an ancient institution struggling to stay relevant in the modern world.

"Britain is in the process of deep soul-searching right now," says Arianne Chernock, a professor of British history at Boston University. "There's lots of self-reflection about what it means to be British ... and the monarchy is one of the few institutions left that symbolizes tradition and continuity. I think many people cling to it for those reasons."

There's no precedent for Harry and Meghan's situation, although other members of the royal family have scaled back their public duties in the past. Princess Diana lost her title in 1996 after divorcing Prince Charles. Prince Philip retired from public life in 2017 at age 96. And King Edward VIII gave up the throne in 1936 to marry a divorced American woman. (It used to be forbidden by the Church of England to marry a divorced person who had a living ex-spouse.)

Experts speculate that the negotiated terms may be more severe than the duke and duchess expected. But the queen did say she was "entirely supportive" of the couple, acknowledging that they have experienced "intense scrutiny" over the past two years. And after a year, if the deal isn't...