Buckingham Palace has released a response to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s announcement that they’re taking a stepping down as “senior” members of the royal family.

“Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage. We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through,” the palace said, per royals reporter Omid Scobie.

See the statement for yourself, below:

Earlier today Markle and Prince Harry revealed, via Instagram, their plans to change up the way they work in 2020. “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,” they wrote on the Sussex Royal official IG page.

The duke and duchess continued, “It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity.”

Buckingham Palace’s statement seems to imply Markle and Prince Harry’s big, declarative announcement is coming a bit out of left field. It’s possible higher-ups at the palace were privy to these discussions but weren’t expecting any decisions to be made yet. But this statement is very brief, so there’s no way to know for sure what, exactly, is going on.

We’ll keep you posted with any more updates.

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