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ABC News
ABC News
World

'Just call me Harry': Prince begins final round of Royal duties by dropping formalities

Prince Harry asked guests at an event to just call him "Harry" as he began his final round of public engagements before relinquishing his work as a Royal.

Introducing the prince at a tourism conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, Ayesha Hazarika told the audience that he had "made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry".

Last week it was revealed Prince Harry and his wife Meghan would be closing up their Buckingham Palace office and would make their final appearances as full members of the Royal family on March 31.

The pair will keep the HRH titles but will no longer use them from April onwards.

The couple will also no longer use the word "royal", meaning the end of their Sussex Royal brand.

The couple gave details of the transition on their website Sussexroyal.com, saying the revised role of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would undergo a 12-month review from March 31.

"We had hoped to be allowed to share these details with you sooner (to mitigate any confusion and subsequent misreporting), but the facts below should help provide some clarification around this transition and the steps for the future," the statement said.

"The Royal family respect and understand the wish of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to live a more independent life as a family, by removing the supposed 'public interest' justification for media intrusion into their lives.

"They remain a valued part of Her Majesty's family."

On Friday, Prince Harry will partner up with rock star Jon Bon Jovi and a choir at the famous Abbey Road studios to record a song for the upcoming Invictus Games.

Meghan is expected to fly into the UK next week and the pair will attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music on March 7 and Meghan will mark International Women's Day on March 8.

The following day, the couple will join the Queen and the Royal family for the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey.

Prince Harry is also expected to be at the London Marathon in April, where he is a patron, as well as being joined by Meghan at the Invictus Games in the Netherlands in May.

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