Royal POLL: Should Meghan Markle and Prince Harry be stripped of their titles? VOTE | Royal | News (Reports)

Meghan and Prince Harry told Her Majesty they don’t want to resume their old roles as senior royals at the end of the 12-month review period agreed in January last year, Buckingham Palace has announced. As a consequence, the monarch said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have to return their royal patronages. A statement issued by the palace read: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed to Her Majesty The Queen that they will not be returning as working members of The Royal Family.”

In the wake of this announcement, Express.co.uk is asking: should Meghan and Harry be stripped of all their royal titles and Harry be removed from the line of succession? And ultimately was the Queen’s decision to cut their links to their royal patronages right?

Reacting to Meghan and Harry’s future plans, ITV host Piers Morgan took to Twitter to renew calls to strip Meghan and Prince Harry of their royal titles.

He wrote: “Presumably they will be giving up their Duke and Duchess royal titles too?”

This tweet was met with mixed reaction by his followers, with one saying: “Their titles are conferred by birth, not occupation. 

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“There are thousands of people with titles who don’t work as public figures.”

Another said: “It has nothing to do with you Sir. It’s between the Queen and the couple.

“I’m pretty sure the Queen has her own advisers and not in need of your services, any thoughts on that?

“Look at it this way: above all, H&M are two humans. It’s their birthright to decide how/where to live.” 

READ MORE: Queen ‘let down’ by Meghan and Harry’s exit and is ‘saddened’

Another, agreeing with Mr Morgan, said: “Couldn’t be more correct cut them off totally disgraceful. No respect to the monarchy at all”.

So do you think Meghan and Harry should be stripped of all their royal titles?

In its statement, Buckingham Palace also explained why the Queen has asked the Sussexes to relinquish their patronages of organisations with royal links.

The statement read: “Following conversations with The Duke, The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of The Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service. 

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“The honorary military appointments and Royal patronages held by The Duke and Duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty, before being redistributed among working members of The Royal Family.”

The statement ended with a personal note from the Royal Family, reading: “While all are saddened by their decision, The Duke and Duchess remain much-loved members of the family.”

The Duke of Sussex is losing his three honorary military titles as Captain-General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Force Commandant of RAF base Honington and Honorary Commodore–in–Chief of Small Ships and Diving.

He is also losing two patronages linked to the Royal Family – The Rugby Football Union and The Rugby Football League. 

Meghan is losing the patronage of two organisations passed on to her by the Queen in January 2019 – the National Theatre and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Moreover, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer be President and Vice President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust.

Do you agree with the Queen’s decision to cut Meghan and Harry’s links with their royal patronages?

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex issued their own statement minutes after Buckingham Palace made public the Queen’s decision. 

A spokesperson for the couple said: “As evidenced by their work over the past year, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the UK and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organisations they have represented regardless of official role.

“We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.”

Meghan and Prince Harry first announced their intention to “step back” as senior royals on January 8 last year.

According to that statement, the Duke and Duchess wanted to retain their full titles and patronages and continue to represent the Crown while also becoming financially independent and being allowed to live abroad.

However, the Queen deemed this half in-half out solution unworkable. 

The so-called Megxit deal thrashed out during the summit in Sandringham on January 18 last year states Meghan and Harry can no longer carry out royal duties and represent the Crown and have also been asked not to use their HRH styles.

In turn, they can live abroad, pursue financially profitable ventures and retain their private patronages – such as Meghan’s Mayhew and Smart Works or Harry’s Invictus Games Foundation and Sentebale.

The Duke of Sussex is also to remain eight-in-line of succession to the throne.

However, royal commentator Robert Jobson recently said he thinks only full-time working royals should be placed so high up in the line of succession – and failing to remove the Duke of Sussex and any other non-working royal could put the country at risk of a constitutional crisis.

Speaking about Prince Harry, his son Archie and his future child, set to become eights-in-line to the throne upon his birth, the expert told BBC Breakfast: “They need to be taken out of the line of succession.

“I also think that you’ve got to remember that, in this COVID pandemic, that we’re only a couple of breaths away from a constitutional crisis.

“We have a very old Queen, both the Prince of Wales and Prince William have suffered with Covid.”

“What would we have? Prince Harry as regent to Prince George?

“There are bigger issues here than personalities.

“What is the position in terms of the constitutional monarchy?

“It’s not about personalities, it’s a much more serious situation than that.”

Do you agree with Mr Jobson? Should Prince Harry be removed from line of succession?