Queen appoints Prince William to new role amid royal shakeup

Queen Elizabeth II appointed the prince as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, according to a tweet from Kensington Palace.

The new appointment comes weeks after Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, announced they would be stepping back from royal duties.

The Queen appoints a Lord High Commissioner every year, according to the Royal Family's website.

The Church of Scotland "is a Presbyterian church and recognises only Jesus Christ as 'King and Head of the Church,'" the Royal Family's website says. The Church is also entirely self-governing, represented at the local level by "kirk sessions" and at a national level by the General Assembly.

In his new role, Prince William will "maintain the relationship between the State and the Church," the Royal website says.

Usually, the commissioner is a Scottish person, but the Royal website says members of the Royal Family have been appointed in the past.

Prince Harry and Meghan are no longer working members of the royal family and will repay the Sovereign Grant funds they recently spent to renovate their official residence, Frogmore Cottage -- £2.4 million (about $3 million) of British taxpayers' money -- Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

Harry and Meghan will no longer receive funds for royal duties, the statement said. The arrangement will go into effect this spring.

The couple has previously spoken about the toll that public scrutiny has taken on them, with Harry raising the possibility of living abroad during a TV documentary that aired in October.

CNN's Max Foster and Dakin Andone contributed this report.

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