Is slimming down the monarchy the only way to save it?

The crisis that has engulfed the royal family, sparked by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s bombshell announcement that they are jumping ship, is about far more than just their personal future. If that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t be so important. Families fall out, scandals come and go and the monarchy marches on. But this announcement and the extraordinary Sandringham summit convened by the Queen was about something much more fundamental. The subject of discussion was what the monarchy does, who it is for and how much longer it will continue in its current form after the Queen’s reign. And, indeed, whether it should survive at all.

Everyone’s sympathy this week has been for the Queen, now 93, and the upset Harry and Meghan’s decision has caused her. But it has also been a nightmare for Prince Charles. He is the second most senior member of the family and the one who will take the monarchy forward, but he is also a loving father, facing the possible disintegration of his family. His two sons, once so close, now barely speak to one another. Prince Charles will have been terribly worried about Harry’s happiness, and desperate to help his younger son find the right solution without burning any bridges.

Every so often the British monarchy goes through a major reorganisation: there was one in 1986 when a firm of City accountants suggested nearly 200 changes. For years now, there has been much talk of another crunch coming: plans for the Prince of Wales’s new ‘slimmed-down monarchy’. There were even reports last week that Harry, now sixth in line to the throne, had come to believe he would end up without a role in the new, lean family firm. A photograph released to mark the start of the new decade showing four generations of heirs, but no Harry, was said to have served — to him — as proof that his days are numbered.