King Charles 'wouldn't be happy' to strip Harry of title, says author

09 December 2023 , 22:34

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King Charles 'wouldn't be happy' to strip Harry of title, says author

King Charles III would not "be happy about any overt move to strip" Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their titles, a royal author has suggested.

Harry, 39, and his wife Meghan, 42, stepped back from royal duties in 2020 - which was the year they moved out of the UK. It was announced that they would no longer use HRH titles, though they continue to be referred to as the Duke of Sussex and the Duchess of Sussex respectively.

There have been calls for the couple to lose such titles. It was reported last week that Bob Seely, a Conservative MP, wants to introduce a bill that would allow the House of Commons to consider making them simply Mr and Mrs.

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Prince Harry (right) and Meghan Markle (left) stepped back from royal duties in 2020 (Getty Images)

As previously reported, he's said to have described it as the "nuclear option". Discussing the bill, he suggested that those who no longer want to be royals, but who "trash" the monarchy, should have "their titles and privileges" removed.

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Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, 73, who's written books about the late Queen, spoke to OK! about the prospect. She said that the bill is "not going anywhere at the moment" but suggested that it's an "interesting" situation.

Sharing her thoughts, she said: "I don't think King Charles would be happy about any overt move to strip Harry and Meghan of titles. He is not vindictive and this would be seen as that." She said it would "deepen the rift and the hurt".

The monarchy is now led by his father King Charles III (pictured), following the death of Queen Elizabeth II (Getty Images)

Jennie added that it would be like a "replay of the lifelong bitterness" that the late Duke of Windsor felt when his wife Wallis Simpson wasn't given the HRH title. She was however named the Duchess of Windsor upon their marriage in 1937.

"You would think that, given their new celebrity lifestyle and antipathy to the royal way of life, Harry and Meghan would quietly drop using their titles," the journalist continued. Jennie said they still use them in "commercial activities".

Rebecca Russell