Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are likely to keep their titles as the Firm tries to calm the “war” with the Sussexes, according to a royal commentator. Since the release of the couple’s Netflix series and Prince Harry’s memoir Spare, there have been calls for them to renounce their Duke and Duchess monikers.
However, it isn’t so simple, says royal expert Johnathan Sacerdoti, who warned such a move could be spun as “aggressive” by the Sussexes and lead to escalation in the family’s “war”.
“The sense that I get is that this is not something they want to do. I think in this war between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the Royal Family, they’re [the Firm] trying to calm things not trying to throw more grenades in,” Mr Sacerdoti said.
Such a move could even spur the Meghan and Harry to write a “Spare 2” or to release another Netflix series, according to Mr Sacerdoti. He said that the working Royals just want to “get on with the job”.
He added: “They’re not trying to provoke anymore than they’re being provoked. I think that trying to remove their titles – by the King – would be seen as, perhaps, an aggressive move or at least Harry and Meghan could dress it up that way. We might have Spare 2 or Netflix volumes seven to 12.
“I think perhaps [the Royal Family] is trying to spare us all of that misery as well. In all honesty, I think that it is not necessarily on their agenda. They want to get on with doing the job of the Royal Family,” Mr Sacerdoti told US Weekly.
However, the Firm might not have to strip Meghan and Harry of their titles at all. Bob Seely, MP for Isle of Wight, is proposing a bill which would see the Parliament do what King Charles might be reluctant to.
Mr Seely plans to introduce the Private Members Bill by mid-February which would see Parliament vote on whether to strip Harry and Meghan of their Sussex titles.
Prince Harry was pressed on the issue in a 60 minutes interview with Anderson Cooper ahead of the release of Spare. Cooper asked: “Why not renounce your titles as Duke and Duchess?”
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To which Harry replied: “And what difference would that make?”
Now that the couple lives in California and have stepped down as working royals, there have been calls from some for the couple to drop the Duke and Duchess titles.
Due to the split, they have already lost their patronages. Prince Harry lost his honorary military titles, something which was likely especially hard for the Duke considering the time he spent on the frontline in Afghanistan.
