Despite It All, King Charles Absolutely “Refuses” to Strip Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of Their Duke and Duchess of Sussex Titles

Prince Charles Prince Harry Meghan Markle

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 3 December 2023

At the end of the day, come what may, King Charles is still a father who loves his son and daughter-in-law, and one that The Mirror reports “refuses” to strip Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles—conferred to them on their May 2018 wedding day by Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

This week has been a particularly difficult one, what with allegations from Omid Scobie’s explosive new book Endgame (Scobie insists that Harry and Meghan were not involved in any way in the project). Regardless, Harry and Meghan’s titles will stay, The Mirror reports, because Charles “never wants to humiliate them,” and that he hasn’t even contemplated the move.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle walking side by side

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle greet folks at an engagement

Even though Harry and Meghan stepped back as working members of the royal family nearly four years ago in January 2020, they have retained their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, though not their HRH (His or Her Royal Highness) title prefixes.

The King is “not a punitive man” and, while Buckingham Palace is “considering all options” on how to respond to the Endgame melee, demoting Harry and Meghan will never happen as long as Charles is on the throne. “That is just something that would not be considered,” a source said.

King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle at Royal Ascot 2018

This doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen, but even if it did, by birth Harry is a prince, and that title can never be taken away; by marrying a birth prince, Meghan is a princess, but instead of being Princess Meghan, she would be referred to as Princess Henry, reflective of her husband’s birth name (Harry is a nickname).

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.

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