Hello everyone and welcome back to the air pod and happy new year I hope I can still

say that on this day so I don't I never know exactly when the cutoff point is for

wishing people well for the year ahead but if you are new to the show

welcome if you are coming in from last year, I hope you enjoyed the holidays.

What a start of the year we've had.

Not quite the usual gentle January we usually get on the Royal Beat.

Big, big news from the Sussex's who announced on January the 8th

that they would like to step back from their roles as senior members of the Royal Family

and that will be what we'll be talking about for this entire episode.

We're going to be diving into everything you wanted to know about the situation,

what it is that the couple want,

how we got to this point, what the future looks like,

and much, much more. Before I'm joined by my guest this week,

Chris Ship, the Royal Editor at I TV News here in the UK, I just want to look at what sort of started this on January the 8th Wednesday.

I remember it well because my phone went absolutely ballistic.

Harry and Megan released the following statement.

They said after many months of reflection and internal

discussions we've chosen to make the transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive

new role within the institution. We intend to step back as senior members of the royal family

and work to become financially independent while continuing to support Her

Majesty the Queen. The statement goes on to say that the couple want to continue the honor of their duty to the Queen, the Commonwealth

and their patronages, but they would also like to embrace a geographic balance in their life

...