Meghan and Harry will officially step down as senior royals on March 31, and last week joined members of the family in their final engagement at the Commonwealth Service in Westminster Abbey. They were joined by Prince William and Kate Middleton, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Queen. 

The event was the last official engagement in the Duke and Duchess’s farewell tour. 

The duo may still carry out some further private engagements with their patronages before they head back to Canada. 

Their ten-month-old son Archie is understood to have stayed under the care of close friends and a nanny amid escalating fears of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Meghan and Harry will retain their roles as President and Vice-President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust despite having to give up their HRH titles.

READ MORE

• Royal row: How William may still be ‘furious’ with Harry for interview

Could Prince Harry stay behind to work for the royal family?

The royal family’s concern over the virus seems to have very slightly shifted in recent weeks. 

While several of Europe’s other royal families take strong measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, it’s business as usual for the Windsors. 

Queen Margarethe of Denmark just cancelled her 80th birthday celebrations, while King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway have made the decision to self-isolate after recently returning from Jordan. 

Meanwhile, Queen Letizia and King Felipe VI of Spain have been tested positive for the viral infection after coming into close contact with government officials who were carrying COVID-19.

READ MORE

• Queen invites Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to stay at Balmoral

For the most part, our royal family seem to be keeping calm and carrying on as they are yet to publicly cancel any events and appearances, including large gatherings like the Prince’s Trust Awards in central London. 

Princess Anne also attended the Cheltenham festival with her husband, Sir Timothy Lawrence, a yearly horse-racing event with tens of thousands of people in attendance. 

The Queen, 93, Prince Philip, 98, and Prince Charles, 71, are all at much greater risk of contracting COVID-19 as a result of their age, and so it seems impossible that normal duties will continue as normal. 

Buckingham Palace has not confirmed that Prince Harry will stay behind to work for the family amid the outbreak – but he is understood to be increasingly concerned for the risk to his Invictus Games. 

The event for wounded Armed Officers service personnel sees thousands of fans from more than 20 countries gather together – posing a serious health and safety risk given the current pandemic. 

Prince Harry fears that Invictus host-country Holland could impose a travel ban or restrictions on public gatherings – as many other countries have done. 

A source told The Sun: “Harry, like everyone else in the team involved in planning the games, is very mindful about the impact coronavirus could have on the event.

“But Harry has been clear that the safety and welfare of those taking part comes before anything else. So this will be at the forefront of the minds of those drawing up an action plan to deal with the situation.

“Harry has an incredibly close bond not just with the games but with those taking part.He is incredibly proud of the event and would be devastated if it had to be called off. 

But his team are updating him on a daily basis as to what the state of play is. 

“It’s been suggested that with Harry stepping away from public life he will be less hands-on with Invictus. This simply is not true and Harry is angry at the idea that he isn’t as involved.

“If anything, Harry hopes to dedicate even more time to being a part of the event. Meghan is passionate about it too and will be there in The Hague if the event goes ahead.” 

Sources revealed last week that the long-running and worsening COVID-19 pandemic has thrown plans for the games into chaos. 

They said: “There is a huge amount of concern and a lot of attention is being paid to how Holland deals with the virus and whether it spreads.

“There is concern many will  be forced to stay at home – particularly if the situation does develop.

“Organisers are also worried about the dangers in the current climate of putting so many disabled athletes together in one place from different countries for a week.” 

Source: Read Full Article