Queen holds emergency meeting for royal family to quickly discuss Meghan, Harry

Queen Elizabeth responded to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's surprise announcement on Wednesday by summoning other members of the royal family for an emergency meeting.

According to reports, Prince Charles, Prince William and their teams have joined Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace to quickly develop a solution for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's desire to step away from royal life.

"The Queen, the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Cambridge have directed their teams to work at pace with governments and the Sussexes’s office to find workable solutions and this is expected to take days, not weeks," a source told People, adding that the royal family has also requested assistance from governments on both sides of the pond.

The source added:

"This has moved from shock and a range of emotions to something more constructive. It is complicated. This is happening very quickly. And the proof in that is the fact that this will take days and not weeks."

The royal family was allegedly "blindsided" by Harry and Meghan's announcement on Wednesday. The duke was said to have "defied clear instructions" from his grandmother regarding the issue after meeting with her at Sandringham this week.

"They knew the Sussexes wanted to do things differently but discussions were at a very early stage and that’s created a huge sense of disappointment among other royals," said royal contributor Victoria Murphy on "Good Morning America." "Harry and Meghan have essentially put their wish list into the public domain before anything has been sorted out."

Buckingham Palace promptly issued a statement after the news broke:

"Discussions with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are at an early stage," the statement read. "We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through."