Britain's Prince Harry rejoins Meghan and Archie in Canada: Media reports - The Straits Times

LONDON (AFP) - Prince Harry arrived in Canada to rejoin his wife Meghan and son Archie Monday (Jan 20), British media reported, as the couple start a new life after their shock exit from the royal fold.

The Daily Mail newspaper said he landed at Vancouver International Airport on British Airways flight 85 from London’s Heathrow at about 7pm local time.

It published a photo of him wearing a blue beanie and jeans with a backpack over his shoulders after slipping out a back staircase, escorted by security.

Sky News published footage of Harry descending the steps of an aircraft. A waiting minivan on the tarmac took him to a connecting flight to Victoria, where he and his family spent the last two months.

The information could not be confirmed by AFP journalists who had staked out the Vancouver and Victoria airports.

A videographer, however, saw two vehicles leaving the Victoria area mansion where the couple had been staying for the past two months.

The Duchess of Sussex was earlier spotted with Archie taking dogs for a walk in the neighbourhood.

She had also made outings last week to Vancouver, visiting a women’s shelter and a charity that supports girls.

According to local reports, the couple are looking to buy a beachside house in Vancouver, or possibly in Toronto, where Meghan spent several years while acting in the television series Suits.

Earlier, Harry, who remains sixth in line to the throne, attended the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London, seeming in good spirits as he met the presidents of Malawi and Mozambique, and the Moroccan prime minister.

He also had an informal 20-minute private meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday (Jan 20).

Britain's Prince Harry talks to Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the UK-Africa Investment Summit, which is expected to be one of his final official engagements as a working royal, in London on Jan 20, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

The premier has said the whole country would want wish Harry and Meghan all the best for the future.

Harry later skipped a summit dinner for the visiting African leaders at Buckingham Palace in order not to overshadow his brother William's hosting of the event, the Daily Mail reported.

Under their new settlement, Harry and Meghan will no longer represent his grandmother the queen, must give up honorary military appointments and will no longer receive public funds.

The couple will no longer be referred to as his or her royal highness.

"Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth and my military associations, but without public funding. Unfortunately that wasn't possible." Harry also confessed to some trepidation at charting a new life in Canada.

"We are taking a leap of faith," he said.

Harry was at Monday's summit at the request of the British government and it could be one of the last times he is seen on official royal duty.

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Meghan and Archie are already in Canada, staying on Vancouver Island on the Pacific west coast.

The "Megxit" crisis began on Jan 8 when the couple announced their plans to seek a "progressive new role" in North America - without having finalised the plans with Queen Elizabeth.

That unilateral assertion of a hybrid role is starkly different from Saturday's clean-break announcement, following emergency negotiations between the senior royals and their households.

The couple agreed to repay £2.4 million (S$4.21 million) of taxpayers' money spent on renovating their new Frogmore Cottage home on the Windsor Castle estate.

They can maintain their private patronages and associations but must uphold the monarchy's values in any commercial arrangements they strike.

Monday's newspapers said the agreement could even strengthen the monarchy and provide a template for other royals in future.

The Daily Express columnist Leo McKinstry said the deal was "the most sensible, constructive arrangement that could have been reached."

Mr Tim Stanley, writing in The Daily Telegraph, said the agreement was "good for the monarchy because it allows it to define its borders."

The Daily Mail said that "by fashioning an elegant escape hatch for those unsuited to royal life, the Queen may actually have strengthened the monarchy."

Meanwhile The Sun welcomed the monarch's decision to "show Meghan and Harry the door."

"Their plan to be half in, half out of The Firm was arrogant in the extreme, and would have set a damaging precedent."

Though the Sussexes want a life lived less in the spotlight, the new arrangements still leave them facing scrutiny.

The couple receive almost all of their funding from the private income of Harry's father Prince Charles.

Whether that will continue - and who will foot their security bill - remains to be seen.

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Britain's Prince Harry rejoins Meghan and Archie in Canada: Media reports - The Straits Times

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