Prince Harry should give up his royal titles if he wants the same status as Meghan Markle, Americans have voted.
The Duke of Sussex said in February that he has considered becoming a naturalised US citizen, telling journalists he had “no idea” what was stopping him as he attended the Invictus Game.
He said at the time: “It’s a thought that has crossed my mind, but it’s not a high priority for me right now.”
His would-be countrymen have said they would prefer that, if he did ever pursue citizenship, he should do so titleless.
Hundreds of Americans have said the country should not change its laws to honour a foreign prince.
US laws require anyone seeking American citizenship to renounce any allegiance to a “foreign prince”.
Prince Harry would be able to retain his titles only if the country changed its laws allowing him to do so.
But the majority of thousands of Americans are against such a move, a recent poll commissioned by Newsweek has found.
The publication commissioned pollsters Redfield & Wilton to ask 1,500 US adults whether the law should be changed to accommodate him.
The organisation found that 44 percent – 528 people – were against the idea, while nearly half felt the opposite.
Only 23 percent of the sample – 276 people – said they would support legislative changes that would allow him to keep his titles.
And the remaining 32 percent – 384 people – said they were uncertain as to whether the law should change.
Lawyers believe there is one avenue for the Prince to keep his titles and still become a US citizen.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Alphonse Provinziano, a partner at US-based law firm Provinziano & Associates, said Prince Harry could keep his titles if he challenged the Supreme Court.
He said he could challenge the law requiring him to relinquish them as a “violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment”, an unsettled realm of US law.
