Prince Harry and Meghan Markle faced calls to be stripped of their royal titles when they launched their brand new website, but one expert b...
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle faced calls to be stripped of their royal titles when they launched their brand new website, but one expert believes that would be "counterproductive".
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex faced an intense backlash when they launched their new platform, changing from Archewell to Sussex.com. The new website is believed to have "gone down terribly" at Buckingham Palace, with some believing it could even "provoke complaints" from the Royal Family.
Critics slammed Meghan and Harry for "commercialising" their royal titles and called for them to be removed. However, royal commentator Petronella Wyatt believes that would only make matters worse.
"Deprived of the Dukedom of Sussex, the couple would become more elevated still, as they would revert to being Prince Harry and Princess Harry," she said. Writing in The Telegraph, the expert explained those titles "can never be removed" as they are part of the Harry's birth right.
Petronella said the title of Prince and Princess would "always trumps a Duke". If Meghan and Harry were to be stripped of their titles, Petronella believes their website would then become princeandprincessharry.com, something she believes "would be even worse" than Sussex.com.
Petronella explained it would imply "they are the world’s preeminent royalty, and that Meghan is a bona fide American princess." When the Sussexes stepped down as senior working royals, they agreed to stop using HRH, but kept their titles of Duke and Duchess.
At the time, the Palace said: "The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family." With the launch of their new website, Meghan and Harry have faced fresh calls to be stripped of their Sussex titles.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, one Palace source said: "They are going to have real trouble with the use of Sussex. It is a royal title and if there is any hint of commercialism about this it will be shut down. It's just staggering they cannot see how gauche it is."
Royal commentator Michael Cole told TalkTV the couple's website "will have gone down terribly badly at Buckingham Palace". He explained: "We’re not quite sure how they intend to use this new website but it will be watched very very closely because any attempt to use it for commercial purposes will be frowned upon certainly in this country."
