King Charles could strip Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of their princely titles if they continue to make incendiary allegations against the royal family, but is essentially powerless to remove their duke and duchess honorifics, a well-placed source told The Daily Beast Wednesday, as temperatures rose ahead of the launch of the couple’s Netflix series on Thursday.
The monarch is understood to have the power to stop Harry from using the title “prince,” meaning Meghan would also lose her status as a princess (although given Meghan rarely uses her “princess” style this would not be much of a punishment).
The model for any forfeiture could be based on how the late queen approached the matter when the couple were simply asked to stop using their HRH (His or Her Royal Highness) titles.
They were also asked not to use the word “royal” in any commercial branding—and, somewhat grudgingly, agreed to both requests.
The source said: “Charles will be very cautious of repeating the mistakes made with Diana. When she was stripped of her HRH after the divorce, it fed into her narrative that the palace was a vindictive and cruel establishment.
“Imagine if they did something similar to Harry. He would be able to go on Oprah all over again and say, ‘They did it to my mother and now they are doing it to me.’ It would completely play into their victim narrative.”
The source added that while, theoretically, steps could be taken by the monarch to get Parliament to formally strip Harry and Meghan of their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, to do so would open up a “Pandora’s box” of problems.
The royals sought Wednesday to project a stately image of business as usual, carrying out multiple engagements; Camilla invited London children into Clarence House to decorate the Christmas tree, the king attended a 40th anniversary of the group Business in the Community, William conducted an investiture and further afield, in Washington, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex “attended meetings to discuss furthering efforts to support survivors of sexual violence and women peacekeepers.”
Behind the blur of formal activity, however, there was little doubt that an army of royal lawyers, advisers, and spin doctors would be setting their alarms tonight to make sure that they watched the first three episodes of the new series when they drop tomorrow morning, at 8 a.m. UK time.
The Daily Beast’s source, who is not a palace staffer but has acted as an informal adviser to the royals for several years, said that the palace will move slowly and cautiously, and is unlikely to move against the couple to remove their princely titles in the heat of the moment, instead adopting a “wait and see” approach.
“Nothing is going to happen before the Coronation anyway,” the source said. Charles’ coronation is scheduled for May next year. The palace, which did not respond to requests for comment by The Daily Beast for this story, has not confirmed if Harry and Meghan will attend. However, they are still generally expected to be invited despite the conflict in the family.
