Queen Elizabeth to host crisis summit on Prince Harry and Meghan’s future

SANDRINGHAM, England — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is set to hold face-to-face talks today with Prince Harry for the first time since he and his wife, Meghan, unveiled their controversial plan to walk away from royal roles — at a dramatic family summit meant to chart a future course for the couple.

The meeting reflects the queen’s desire to contain the fallout from Harry and Meghan’s decision to “step back” as senior royals, work to become financially independent and split their time between Britain and North America. The couple, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, made the announcement Wednesday without telling the queen or other senior royals first.

The meeting at the monarch’s private Sandringham estate in eastern England will also include Harry’s father Prince Charles and his brother Prince William. It comes after days of intense news coverage, in which supporters of the royal family’s feuding factions used the British media to paint conflicting pictures of who was to blame for the rift.

William is expected to travel to Sandringham from London and Harry from his home in Windsor, west of the British capital. Charles has flown back from the Gulf nation of Oman, where he attended a condolence ceremony Sunday following the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

Meghan, who is in Canada with the couple’s baby son Archie, is likely to join the meeting by phone.

Buckingham Palace says “a range of possibilities” would be discussed, but the queen was determined to resolve the situation within “days, not weeks.” The goal was to agree on next steps at Monday’s gathering, which follows days of talks among royal courtiers and officials from the UK and Canada. Buckingham Palace stresses, however, that “any decision will take time to be implemented.”

— AP