As they made a fresh start when they decided to step down from their royal duties and leave Britain, probably for good, Harry and Meghan have dropped down their HRH titles and are not allowed to use the word “royal” in their own branding. The two, however, are still allowed to call themselves the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, something the majority of Britons aren’t happy about. Why, you may wonder? Well, they believe that Harry and Meghan have slammed the Royal Family to a great extent, but they are still cashing out by using royal titles.
The relationship between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royals didn’t deteriorate as much when they left the family as it did when they gave Oprah the infamous tell-all interview during which they accused the royals of a bunch of things. Among the rest, Meghan spoke of the family’s inability to help her with her mental struggles, claiming she was told it would affect the image of the Firm. She also claimed that a senior royal questioned the color of Archie’s skin, which many understood as an attempt to accuse the Royals of racism. Shortly after the interview which shook the world, William said his family wasn’t racist.
The Queen hasn’t said much regarding everything that has been going on. She only released a statement which read: “Following conversations with The Duke, The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of The Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.
“The honorary military appointments and Royal patronages held by The Duke and Duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty, before being redistributed among working members of The Royal Family.” The statement concluded that Harry and Meghan will always remain much loved members of the family.
One person, who was said to be extremely mad at Harry and Meghan in particular, was Prince Charles. He accused his son of dragging the family’s name through the mud and wasn’t particularly interested in mending the relationship, especially after Harry refused to talk things through with him and William after Prince Philip’s funeral.
However, it looked like the Sussexes offered an olive branch to the Royals when their daughter was born. They named her Lilibet “Diana” Mountbatten-Windsor, honoring both the Queen and late Princess Diana. This decision, however, was slammed by the public who believed that neither Queen Elizabeth was consulted regarding the name, which was her childhood nickname, nor was she happy.
Now that Harry and Meghan lead their lives as civilians and Harry has announced he will be publishing a book which will be all about “the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him,” as per the publishing company Penguin Random House, the public expects from the Queen to make a move.
However, according to royal expert Ingrid Seward, Queen Elizabeth will likely do something completely different and will deal with her grandson and his wife as gracefully as always, by ignoring them. Seward believes that the Queen won’t remove the “Duke and Duchess of Sussex” titles from Harry and Meghan because it will lead to compromising the relationship with them even further.
“I don’t think removing the titles would make much difference and it would look very petty,” she told Express. “I also don’t think it is something the Queen would want to do at this stage of her reign.
“It would be far more insulting just to ignore them. Even excluding them from the jubilee next year gives them ammunition to criticize the monarchy.”
As per reports, in order to remove Harry and Meghan’s titles, a statute would need to be passed by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.