Meghan Markle would become a princess if she was stripped of her current title, a royal commentator has claimed.
The Duchess of Sussex could be referred to as “Princess Henry” if King Charles should decide to renounce their epithets.
Harry and Meghan stepped back from their royal duties and moved to the US in 2020 but the couple continue to use their duke and duchess title to complete charity work and to build on their personal brand.
After the Sussexes criticised aspects of the Royal Family via their Netflix series, Harry’s book Spare, and their bombshell interview with Oprah, there have been calls by some for the pair to renounce their titles.
The couple recently launched a new website with Meghan’s royal coat of arms, and the former actress unveiled her newest business venture which is branded by “Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex”.
However, even if they were to lose their Duke and Duchess names, they would still keep a royal title, albeit a strange one.
Kinsey Schofield, a royal expert, told Fox News: "A lot of us feel like Harry and Meghan take advantage of their titles and would like to see them stripped of them, but that’s not a conversation that has happened between King Charles and Prince William in years.
“Technically, and Charles and William know this, if you strip Harry and Meghan of the Duke and Duchess title… they would revert to being Prince and Princess Henry. The prince title cannot be removed. That is Harry’s birthright. It would take an act of Parliament and that is simply not a priority for them at this time.”
She said that the two would use the prince and princes titles in the US, as they are “more marketable”.
If Meghan were to gain the title Princess Henry, it would mirror another royal - Princess Michael of Kent. She has also adopted the feminine form of her husband’s name as she married into the Royal Family but her husband does not hold another title.
Lee Cohen said the new title may have strange ramifications for Meghan. Speaking on GBN America, he said: “What a bitter pill for an arch-feminist like Meghan to have to carry around her husband’s name if she chose to deploy her title."
However, royal commentator Ingrid Seward thinks the possibility of the pair losing their titles is unlikely.
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She said: “I don't think anything will happen to the titles because, if they lose their titles, Harry is still a prince of the blood and Meghan instead of being the Duchess of Sussex, [would] be Princess Henry.
“That really would [confuse the Americans]. I think [it's] probably best just to leave it because it looks unkind, it looks unnecessary.”
Following the launch of Meghan’s lifestyle brand, royal correspondent Jennie Bond told GB News that the duchess had “the right” to use her title.
Bond said: “She is the Duchess of Sussex and she has every right to use that title.
"I do have an opinion that if they dislike most of the most of what the monarchy is about and royalty perhaps it would be advisable not to use that title, but it is her right.”
