Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle have hit back at one of the late Queen Elizabeth’s key decrees as they resume life in Britain.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who last week appeared together in public for the first time since their return, are said to “hate” the phrase “working members of the royal family”, believing it to be a “lazy” definition of royal duty.

The couple take exception to the definition because “they are members of the royal family and they work”, a well-placed source has told Britain’s Times newspaper.

According to the source, the Sussexes “never agreed” they wouldn’t have a “half-in, half-out” approach to royal life.

Harry apparently floated the idea of a hybrid working model for him and his wife at the famous 2020 “Sandringham summit” to work through the couple’s departure as senior royals. It would allow them to pursue financial independence while still representing the Crown.

But the queen rejected the idea of anyone “half-in, half-out” as a working royal. She denied permission for the couple to represent the monarchy while also pursuing private commercial interests.

Recently, however, a friend told Hello! magazine that Meghan, 45, and Prince Harry, 42, didn’t agree to that decision.

“It doesn’t trouble them,” the friend said.

“They never agreed they wouldn’t be half-in, half-out. That was what was decided and foisted upon them.”

“They’re just living their lives and they can, because they’re financially independent.”

The late Queen Elizabeth denied Harry and Meghan’s bid to be “half-in, half out” as working royals. Photo: AAP

In Nottingham last week, there were cheers for the duke and duchess when they returned to the city where they had their first joint outing as a newly engaged couple nine years ago.

In what looked much like a traditional royal engagement, they visited Community Recording Studio, which is run ‌by a youth ‌and community charity that ⁠has received support from a £1.1 million ($A2.1 million) donation announced by Harry in 2025.

They were greeted by about 100 excited schoolchildren and cheering well-wishers – smiling, shaking hands, giving hugs and taking selfies – as well as large numbers of media.

“Oh, it’s great to be back,” Meghan was heard telling one woman in the crowd.

There was also a visit to a charity that tackles food poverty, run by a group called Himmah. Meghan donated £10,000 to the organisation from sales of a cookbook released to raise money following London’s Grenfell Tower fire disaster.

The day finished at another youth-focused charity, Epic Partners, that the Sussexes have previously backed. It was also linked to their 2017 visit.

“ ‘Working members of the royal family’ is a really lazy phrase. He hates it, she hates it,” a friend of the duke and duchess told The Times.

“They are not ‘working’ for the institution, but they are members of the royal family, and they work.”

The friend said the Sussexes also disliked the term “former royals.”

“Things like Nottingham aren’t done in the name of the institution or the crown, but Harry is the son of the King, he is still a member of the royal family, he’s just not a member of the institution,” they said.

“It’s misleading to call them ‘former royals’. It has an impact on how they’re perceived and the way people talk about them.”

Harry ⁠and Meghan have become deeply polarising ‌figures since ​they quit royal duties to move to California in 2020. Since then, they have also delivered scathing criticism of the prince’s ​family and the ‌royal institution.

Opinion polls show a majority of Britons have a negative opinion of them, although young people are far more ​sympathetic.

Two months ago, they shocked his father, the King, and other family members when they suddenly returned to Britain from California with their children Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five.

The Nottingham visit came just weeks after the King clarified their positions within the royal family in a rare letter.

Sent to senior British officials in early September, it reiterated that Sussexes are ​no longer working members of the royal family. It said they were to be treated as “private citizens with commercial and charitable interests”.

The palace letter also said they would not resume use of their royal titles – another ban agreed at the Sandringham meeting. Operational security decisions remained matters for relevant police agencies, the letter finished.

Harry and Meghan reportedly learned of the missive only hours before it became public.

A source has also pushed back on their description as “private citizens”.

“They are public figures. Members of the public know who they are. The idea that they can live a normal, ‘private’ life is sadly not realistic,” they told People magazine.

-with AAP