Royals have 'hands tied' over Meghan and Harry rebrand and 'won't take action'

14 February 2024 , 15:56

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Buckingham Palace unlikely to take action over Harry and Meghan new website (Image: Getty Images for the Invictus Games Foundation)

Whenever Meghan Markle and Prince Harry do pretty much anything, the eyes of the world are upon them and the launch of their new website has been no exception. The new site - sussex.com - features biographical information about the couple and news about their various business ventures and philanthropic work, but it has come under fire from royal sources for being too much of a "royal" rebrand.

It's been four years since the Sussexes first stepped back from being working royals, and stopped using their previous official website and associated social media handles - Sussexroyal.com. At the time, their spokesperson confirmed that they wouldn't use this name, which included the word royal, in any of their future professional endeavours, and the couple has stuck to this.

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However, some sources have reportedly claimed that within the royal household, there is a view that the Sussexes have flown too close to the sun with their new website - billing the site as 'The Office of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex', featuring a link back to their former, banned website and displaying Meghan's personal coat of arms - which she was given upon her marriage back in 2018.

As reported in the Daily Mail "Many close to the royal household believe it is a flagrant breach of the supposedly cast-iron assurances Harry and Meghan gave the late Queen when they acrimoniously quit as working royals in 2020, and comes perilously close to using their royal status for commercial gain. Others described it as a breach of the agreement, 'if not in letter, certainly in spirit'".

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The new site went live this week (sussex)

However, the sources said to the Mail that Buckingham Palace isn't likely to take any action over this perceived "breach" of any previous deal struck when the couple first stepped back not to profit from their royal connections.

"The palace has declined to comment, preferring to focus on The King who returned to London yesterday for meetings and cancer treatment. But an insider said: 'Buckingham Palace may have its hands tied in taking action. The King has other things he needs to focus on at the moment and the last thing His Majesty needs is another fight with his son. But this won't go down well at all.'"

Last week, Prince Harry returned to the UK for a brief visit during which he had a meeting with his father after the news of Charles' cancer diagnosis was made public, before flying back to the US the next day.

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Emma Mackenzie