Prince Harry and wife Meghan are taking a “step back” from being senior members of the Royal family and are seeking “financial independence.” Plenty of commentators have speculated why this is; others have wondered if this is the beginning of a greater split in the Royal family.

From New Zealand Republic’s perspective, this doesn’t affect our campaign for an independent head of state as such. It does, however, open yet another crack in the monarchy’s well-built facade. The Royals remain an irrelevance to New Zealand. We’re only of interest to the Royal family so far as they can use New Zealand to promote their interests, mainly retaining the British Crown.

Prince Harry and Meghan’s announcement confirms what we’ve long suspected - under the monarchy, no-one, not even the Royals really get a choice.