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Prince Harry and Meghan, the duke and duchess of Sussex, will not resume duties as working royals, according to a letter issued by Buckingham Palace on Monday.
A working royal is a senior member of the British royal family who carries out official duties on behalf of the monarch, including public engagements and ceremonial functions, as distinct from family members who do not hold such representative roles.
The letter, sent on behalf of King Charles by the lord chamberlain, a senior palace official, confirmed the couple will not be able to use the titles "His and Her Royal Highness" and will remain private citizens, the BBC reported.
The letter was sent to Prince Harry's team, government departments, military officials and lord lieutenants, the monarch's local representatives, as well as government staff often involved in royal visits and engagements, according to palace sources.
The confirmation follows the return of the duke and duchess to the U.K. with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, on Aug. 26, six years after the couple stepped away from their roles as senior working members of the royal family and moved to California.
The letter reaffirmed that the arrangement agreed in 2020, known as the Sandringham Agreement, named after the royal estate in Norfolk, eastern England, where the terms were negotiated, remains in place.
The agreement rules out any "half-in and half-out" status, meaning the couple cannot pursue their own commercial interests while also serving as working royals.
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"It is well known that in January 2020 the Duke and Duchess stepped down from undertaking representative duties on behalf of the Sovereign, and are no longer working members of the Royal Family," the letter said.
It added that the charitable work of the duke and duchess "is a personal matter for them both and undertaken in their private capacity."
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