Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Have Split Royal Households from Kate Middleton and Prince William

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have officially split royal households from Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The Sussexes and the Cambridges have broken up their joint “court” at Kensington Palace by creating two separate offices, the palace announced Thursday. News of an impending split first broke in November 2018.

Queen Elizabeth has agreed to the creation of a new household for Meghan and Harry. Prince Charles is also in support of the decision, which will be established in the spring.

“This long-planned move will ensure that permanent support arrangements for The Duke and Duchess’s work are in place as they start their family and move to their official residence at Frogmore Cottage,” a statement from the palace reads.

Meghan and Harry’s office will also be moving out of Kensington Palace and into Buckingham Palace, where the Queen resides. However, Meghan and Harry will be living at their new cottage home in Windsor later this spring.

William and Kate’s office will remain in Kensington Palace, where they live with their three children.

Prince Harry currently has his own private office, which has been supporting both his work and Meghan’s since their engagement in November 2017.

The royal couple, who are expecting their first child in April, will also appoint new communications staff, who will form part of the Buckingham Palace communications team and report to The Queen’s Communications Secretary, Donal McCabe. Kensington Palace will continue to support Meghan and Harry until that team is in place.

In an update from Kensington Palace on Friday, it was announced that Jason Knauf has been appointed as Senior Adviser to William and Kate. His responsibilities will include advising Their Royal Highnesses on their charitable initiatives – including work on the environment, mental health, and early childhood – and supporting a review of the charitable structures that underpin their work. Christian Jones has been appointed as their Communications Secretary.

Sara Latham, a former senior advisor for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, has been appointed to head up communications for Harry and Meghan, reporting directly to The Queen’s Communication Secretary.

With William one day set to be the Prince of Wales – and all that entails as heir to his father Prince Charles – Harry and Meghan will want to forge their own path, so it’s a natural time to split up, insiders believe.

“The arrival of Meghan has changed the dynamic of the relationship in a fairly significant way,” royals author Sally Bedell Smith previously told PEOPLE. “It is inevitable and practical because it gives Harry and Meghan some freedom to build up their own collection of interests and charities.”

“Meghan has very strong views on what she is interested in and that may be what Harry shares, but not what William and Kate share,” she continued.

The foursome are, however, likely to keep their successful Royal Foundation, under which they organize their charitable endeavors and their groundbreaking mental health campaign, intact.

“They have brought many charities working in the same sector together to empower them and lend their positions,” said Bedell Smith. “But they will increasingly follow their own respective interests.”

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“I think it really is just a shift in priorities and interests,” she added. “William is a husband and father of three and his focus is primarily on them, and Harry will soon be a father.

“Each of them will continue the very strong representative of the Queen in carrying out tasks and assignments that she, and probably their father, wants them to do. They are going to be sharing in this diffusion of activities on behalf of the Queen.”