Harry and Meghan face funding questions after Queen confirms move to Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said there’s ‘still much to discuss’ over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s move to his country.

It comes after the royal family’s crisis summit yesterday in which the Queen sanctioned Harry and Meghan’s new ‘independent life’ away from full-time royal duties.

The couple are set to begin a transition period living in the UK and Canada, but questions still hang over who will pay for their security in North America.

When asked by Global News whether Canadian taxpayers would have to cough up, Trudeau said: ‘That is part of the reflection that needs to be had and there are discussions going on.

‘We’re not entirely sure what the final decisions will be, what the dispositions are and those are decisions for them.

‘I think most Canadians are very supportive of having royals be here, but how that looks and what kind of costs are involved, there are still lots of discussions to have.’

He said the federal Canadian government had not been involved ‘up until this point’ about what the couple’s move to the Commonwealth country will involve.

The PM added: ‘There are still a lot of decisions to be taken by the Royal Family, by the Sussexes themselves, as to what level of engagement they choose to have.

‘We are obviously supportive of their reflections but have responsibilities in that as well.’

He added that Harry and Meghan enjoyed a ‘general feeling of appreciation’ in the country.

Canada’s finance minister Bill Morneau told reporters in Toronto the government ‘had not spent any time’ thinking about the couple’s security costs.

In her first public comments since Meghan and Harry released their bombshell statement last week, the Queen expressed her regret at their wish to step back as senior royals.

But she said her family ‘respected and understand’ their wishes for more independence while still remaining a ‘valued part’ of the monarchy.

In an unusual move, Harry and Meghan were not referred to as duke or duchess in the statement.

Instead they were only called the Sussexes or by their first names, raising questions about whether they will retain their titles.

Yesterday the Queen was joined by the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge for ‘very constructive’ face-to-face talks with Harry at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

It is thought Meghan joined the discussions by telephone from Canada after the Queen made reference to comments by the duchess.

The head of state also expressed the ‘support’ of herself and the rest of the family for the couple’s aspiration to create a new life together with their eight-month-old son Archie.

She stressed the discussions were ‘complex matters’ for her family to resolve but she wanted ‘final decisions’ in the ‘coming days’.

Harry and Meghan made clear in their unexpected statement last week that they wanted to become financially independent as they split their time between North America in the UK.

As well as throwing up questions over who will pay for their security, it also fuelled calls for them to pay back the £2.4 million spent by the taxpayer renovating their home of Frogmore Cottage near Windsor Castle between 2018 and last year.

Meanwhile William and Harry have made a joint show of strength with a statement denying a newspaper claim about their relationship, which they branded ‘offensive and potentially harmful’.

The pair did not name the newspaper, but The Times had a front page story about the crisis and quoted a source saying Harry and Meghan ‘regarded themselves as having been pushed away by what they saw as a bullying attitude from the Duke of Cambridge’.