LONDON • Britain's Prince Harry has expressed "great sadness" over the loss of his and his wife's royal titles as part of a historic separation settlement with Queen Elizabeth.

But he said on Sunday that he saw no other way out but to give up his royal role in search of "a more peaceful life" with his American former actress wife, Meghan Markle, and their baby son, Archie.

"It brings me great sadness that it has come to this," Harry told supporters of his Africa-based charity in London. His emotional first remarks since the separation were aimed at calming a crisis that has shaken the very foundations of Britain's ancient monarchy.

Harry, 35, also confessed to some trepidation at taking the momentous step of resigning from royal duties and charting a new life abroad.

He said he had always been ready lose the public money that supported his lavish lifestyle but admitted that it pained him to have to give up the military titles and patronages he was awarded after serving two tours in Afghanistan with the British Army spanning 10 years.

He read from prepared remarks as he sought understanding from a nation that has had a soft spot for him since his childhood.

"We are taking a leap of faith - thank you for giving me the courage to take this next step," he said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he believed the whole of Britain would want to wish the couple the very best.

But Meghan's father, Mr Thomas Markle, has accused the couple of damaging the monarchy. "They are destroying it, they are cheapening it, they're making it shabby," he told Britain's Channel 5.

The so-called Megxit crisis began on Jan 8, when the couple's plans to seek a "progressive new role" in North America were announced without Queen Elizabeth II's royal assent.

"I know I haven't always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option," Harry said on Sunday.

The couple lost their right to be called "his and her royal highness" (HRH) - much as Harry's late mother Princess Diana did when she divorced Prince Charles in another family drama that upset the Queen in 1996.

They also agreed to repay £2.4 million (S$4.2 million) of taxpayers' money spent on renovating their Frogmore Cottage home near Windsor Castle.

"No royal has ever paid back money," former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter wrote in The Sun On Sunday. "It is absolutely unprecedented." But Mr Arbiter said it was the loss of the HRH "royal highness" abbreviation that really made palace history.

"Even when Edward VIII abdicated (in 1936), he dropped from being His Majesty The King to HRH the Duke of Windsor," he said.

Few know what Meghan - a former actress with a large social media following and A-list celebrity friends such as Oprah Winfrey and the Obamas - thinks of the British brouhaha about ancient acronyms.

The 38-year-old had frankly admitted on UK television last October that she "really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip". But she added sadly: "That's not the point of life."

Meghan is in Canada with Archie, and Harry is expected to join them soon.

The royal crisis, which has dominated the British news agenda for almost two weeks, overshadowing even Brexit and tensions over Iran, exposed a deep rift among the Windsors and poses questions about its role in the modern world, The Sun newspaper said

Harry and his elder brother William, with whom he acknowledged he had fallen out, had ended their feud but he remained at loggerheads with his father, Prince Charles, the heir-to-the-throne.

In his speech at the Sentebale charity event on Sunday, a clearly upset Harry also said the final outcome was not what he and Meghan had wanted.

"Our hope was to continue serving the queen, the Commonwealth and my military associations without public funding. Sadly, that wasn't possible," the prince, the sixth-in-line to the throne, said.

"I've accepted this knowing it doesn't change who I am, or how committed I am. But I hope that helps you understand what it had come to, that I would step back from all I have ever known to take a step forward into what I hope can be a more peaceful life."

Under the arrangement, Harry will remain a prince and the couple will keep their titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they begin a new life split between Britain and North America, where they will spend the majority of their time.

But they will not take part in any ceremonial events or royal tours.

Royal commentators said it amounted to an "abdication" from "the firm" - as the royals are known - and showed that, beneath the warm words in which she said Harry and Meghan were much loved, the queen had been decisive in insisting on a clean break.

The couple's plans for independence, announced after a long break over the Christmas period in Canada, caught the rest of the royal family by surprise and left the queen and other senior members hurt and disappointed, according to royal sources.

However, in a TV interview aired in October, the couple had made it clear that they were struggling with the immense media attention. They had also started legal action against a newspaper for printing a letter Meghan had sent to Mr Markle, her estranged father.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS