King Charles warned stripping Meghan and Harry of titles would 'spike interest' in couple | Royal

Stripping Meghan and Prince Harry of their royal titles could boost interest in the couple, a royal expert believes. Broadcaster and commentator Jonathan Sacerdoti thinks it would be “reasonable” for King Charles to decide to strip Meghan and Harry of the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex after they have been critical of the royal family in recent months.

However, he believes the move will not diminish the couple’s public interest and their experiences as working members of the royal family.

Mr Sacerdoti told Express.co.uk: “I think there will still be an interest in their history as members of the Royal Family if the King chooses to punish them somehow by relinquishing their titles of Duke and Duchess remove from Sussex.

“I think there would still be a massive interest in them – in fact there would be a peak of interest if they were somehow punished.

“But then it might subside. I think if the titles weren’t there, maybe if they were rejected outright there would be less interest, but I can’t say for sure as it would still be the same people, they would still have the same story that they’re from claim they could tell them with additional inside information.”

Speaking about the possible stories the Duke and Duchess could share with the public, Mr Sacerdoti added: “I think although we’re starting to see stories being repeated quite frequently and so there is a suspicion that it isn’t.” there’s really a lot more that can come out that they’re willing to share.”

In regards to the possibility of the Sussexes having their titles stripped, the commentator also said: “I think it would be perfectly reasonable for the King to react a little harder and do something because they weren’t behaving in a way that feels.” Appropriately for the royal family, they shouldn’t necessarily have carte blanche to be part of that family any more than is strictly necessary.

An Act of Parliament is currently required to strip members of the royal family of their titles.

Earlier this year, Rachael Maskell, Labor MP for York Central, tabled a Private Members Bill that, if successful, would allow the sovereign or a joint parliamentary committee to remove titles without having to resort to an Act of Parliament.

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Bob Seely, Tory MP for the Isle of Wight, also said he was considering introducing bill early next year to amend the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 and give the Privy Council the right to downgrade the status of the Duke and Duchess.

However, a spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has already said No10 does not support the Conservative MP’s proposal.

And the Daily Express’ royal correspondent Richard Palmer wrote on Twitter on December 8 that King Charles “doesn’t appear” to want the power to strip his son of his duchy.

In the fifth episode of the bombastic Netflix docu-series Harry & Meghan, which released earlier this month, the Duke spoke about a proposal he sent to his father in January 2020 to change his and Meghan’s roles within the royal family.

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In one of those emails, Harry said he mentioned that “if that didn’t work, we’d be willing to give up our Sussex titles if the need arose”.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex finally stepped down as full-time members of the firm in Spring 2020 and while they were allowed to keep their titles, they were asked to stop using their HRH styles in an official capacity.

In the months that followed, both Meghan and Harry used their titles on a number of occasions, including attending events and on the cover of the Duchess’ book The Bench.