Meghan Markle caused some controversy last week when she revealed on her Netflix show that she likes to be referred to by her royal title. Despite quitting life as senior royals in 2020, Meghan, 43, and Prince Harry, 40, have been able to keep their titles as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – but lost their right to use their HRH titles.
Speaking on her new cooking show “With Love, Meghan”, the duchess said she likes to use the Sussex title as a surname as it means she can have the same name as her children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three. However, this led to discontent among royal fans who believed Meghan and Harry should no longer have this royal title. Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams has now told the Daily Express that there is only one way for the Sussex name to be taken from the couple.
He said: “The only way the title could be removed would be by an Act of Parliament which is highly improbable.
“In that unlikely case, Harry would still be a prince as he was born one.”
Mr Fitzwilliams also said that Meghan is allowed to use their royal title as a surname, which is common for the Royal Family to do.
However, he claimed that Meghan has been “maximising” the use of the name for her own good while living in the US.
He told Express.co.uk: “Meghan has made abundantly clear how fond she is of her title recently.
“She is intent on maximising something which she knows has value.”
In her cooking series, which aired on March 4, Meghan did not make any direct reference to her royal life or the Royal Family.
This is a complete change to the Netflix docuseries Harry and Meghan, which was released in 2022 and contained a series of damaging claims about the royals.