Prince Harry expresses 'great sadness' after being stripped of royal title

Prince Harry has said "there really was no other option" for him and his wife Meghan to step back from being a senior royal even as he expressed "great sadness" for them being stripped of their royal titles.

In his first public comments after the royal split, the Duke of Sussex on Sunday said, when he and Meghan were married they were "excited", "hopeful" and "were here to serve", the BBC reported.

"For those reasons, it brings me great sadness that it has come to this," Harry said at a fund-raising event here for Sentebale, a charity which he co-founded to help children living with HIV in Africa.

"Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth, and my military associations, but without public funding. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. I've accepted this, knowing that it doesn't change who I am or how committed I am," he said.

Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, have signed up to a formal exit deal from the royal family, which will see them forsake their His and Her Royal Highness (HRH) titles and will no longer receive UK taxpayers' funding for their duties, the Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Saturday night.

The deal, which comes into effect by spring in a few weeks' time, means the couple will no longer be representing the Queen in an official capacity.

Harry said "there really was no other option" for him and Meghan to step back from being a senior royal and they have taken "a leap of faith" in doing so.

"We are taking a leap of faith...thank you for giving me the courage to take this next step," he said.

However, the prince said he wanted to make it clear that he and Meghan were "not walking away", the CNN reported.

"I was born into this life and it is a great honour to serve my country and the Queen," he said.

"The UK is my home and a place that I love, that will never change," Harry added.

The UK royal crisis began on January 8 when Harry and Meghan's announced quitting their front-line roles to focus on the "next chapter", stunning the monarchy and drawing sharp criticism from the British media which has been reporting of a widening rift within the Royal family.

In an extraordinary statement released on the night of January 8, the couple announced plans to step back from their current roles and split their time between the UK and North America with their son Archie.

On January 13, after face-to-face talks with her grandson and senior members of the royal family, Queen Elizabeth II agreed to offer Harry and Meghan a "period of transition" during which the couple can divide their time between the UK and Canada.

On Saturday last week, the Buckingham Palace in a statement said, "The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the royal family."