Canada to end security assistance for Prince Harry, Meghan Canadian officials say they won't provide security for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan when they step back from royal duties

TORONTO -- Canada said Thursday it won't provide security for Prince Harry and his wife Meghan when they step back from royal duties.

Mary-Liz Power, a spokeswoman for Canada's public safety minister, said “the assistance will cease in the coming weeks, in keeping with their change in status.”

Harry and Meghan have said they will walk away from most royal duties starting March 31, give up public funding and try to become financially independent. They plan to live part-time in Canada.

Power said that as duke and duchess of Sussex, they have been considered "internationally protected persons" who warranted security measures under international treaty. Britain's Metropolitan Police also had requested the Royal Canadian Police to provide assistance, which it has been doing since November.

The couple are expected to spend most of their time in Canada while maintaining a home in England, near Windsor Castle. The have been renting a mansion on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

While they have been welcomed in Canada , there has been public opposition to taxpayers paying for their security.

The couple stunned Britain in January by announcing that they wanted to step back from royal duties and build a more peaceful life, free from the journalists who have filmed, photographed and written about him since the day he was born.

The couple, who were named the duke and duchess of Sussex on their wedding day, have also abandoned plans to use the "SussexRoyal'' brand because of U.K. rules governing the use of the word "royal.''