Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could lose their royal titles if a new bill is passed in the UK.
Conservative MP Bob Seely has proposed stripping Harry and Meghan of their status as Duke and Duchess of Sussex. However, for the bill to come into force, it would need to be passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords – with OK! and described this process as “complicated”.
“The bill introduced by Bob Seely was not selected for the vote on the Private Members Bill, so it is not going anywhere at this time,” royal expert Jennie Bond commented to the publication.
“It is interesting, however, that the rumours on social media about the Sussexes being stripped of their titles have reached Parliament.”
As for Bond, King Charles is unlikely to be happy with this proposal.
“I do not think King Charles would be pleased by an open move to strip Harry and Meghan of their titles. He is not vindictive and this would be seen as such,” she said.
“It would obviously deepen the divide and the hurt and would be almost like a repeat of the lifelong bitterness the Duke of Windsor felt when Wallis Simpson was not given the title HRH. He has never forgiven that ‘insult’.”
However, Bond also noted that she would have expected Harry and Meghan to stop using their royal titles on official occasions as they have renounced royal life.
“You might think that given their new celebrity lifestyle and their aversion to the royal way of life, Harry and Meghan would quietly renounce the use of their titles,” she said.
“It seems like a cynical move to continue to use them for their commercial activities. Just being Harry and Meghan… that’s what they apparently wanted, so why not live that life?”
Charles’ reluctance to strip his son and daughter-in-law of their titles has been commented on before, with the Mirror and claimed that the king “never wants to humiliate her in this way”.
When Harry and Meghan stepped down from their royal roles in 2020, they became simply the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and are no longer entitled to use the prefixes “HRH.” They also surprised the world when they decided earlier this year to use the titles “Prince” and “Princess” for their children Archie and Lilibet.
