Graham Smith told Express.co.uk that the Her Royal Highness and His Royal Highness titles that are both abbreviated to HRH should stop being awarded as they “mean nothing”. Mr Smith is the CEO of Republic, an organisation that campaigns for the monarchy to be abolished.
He said: “Now is a good opportunity to stop giving out HRH titles.
“They are a silly title anyway, they don’t really mean anything.
“Why not? It is an opportunity for the royals to grow up a bit.
“They need to stop dishing out silly titles, silly medals and pointless uniforms they have not earned.”
However, this view was strongly criticised by royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.
Mr Fitzwilliams told Express.co.uk: “The HRH is usually associated with the titles of prince and princess in monarchies.
“On the continent, it dated from the 17th century, in Britain from the 18th century. George V restricted its use in 1917.
“The Queen has granted this status to a number of royals, most of whom represent her. To claim that it lacks meaning is untrue.
“Republic cannot understand that royalty has a unique cachet and that titles such as HRH, which have historical precedents, have considerable meaning.
“Harry and Meghan were told that as they were stepping down as senior working royals, that they could keep their HRH but not use it.
“There is still controversy over Diana’s loss of her HRH.”
He continued: “The ‘pointless uniforms’ are links to the various regiments which members of the royal family have and which are treasured by the three services.
“The relationship between the monarchy and the military, which dates from when kings led their armies into battle, is much prized. As for the ‘silly medals’, these denote meaningful links.
“Charles, for example, has seen service in the Royal Navy and the RAF as well as completed the training of the parachute regiment which he leads as Colonel-in-Chief.
“The Queen’s Birthday Parade, Trooping the Colour, is a brilliantly colourful ceremony where the military links of senior royals are on show.
“They mean a very great deal so many and have over the centuries.”
