Bizarre rule that means Meghan Markle ‘would be a princess’ if stripped of Sussex title
Meghan Markle would have been styled something completely different had she not been given the Duchess of Sussex title.
Meghan Markle would be titled princess if she were to lose her duchess title, a royal commentator has claimed.
They claimed that the Duchess of Sussex would be styled as Princess Henry if Prince Harry was stripped of his current title by his father, King Charles.
Technically, women who are married to a British prince are subsequently styled with their husband’s names, like Princess Michael of Kent, who adopted the feminine form of her husband’s name because he does not hold another title.
Harry can’t be stripped of his prince title as it’s his birthright unless done so after an act of Parliament, thus Meghan would be known as Princess Henry if she did not have the Duchess title.
Now royal experts are divided over whether such a change would benefit Meghan’s business aspirations.
Meghan Markle would be styled Princess Henry if she was not the Duchess of Sussex
Royal commentator Kinsey Schofield recently 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, 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.”
The expert added that if the Sussexes used the prince and princess titles in the US that would make them “more marketable”.
However, US-based journalist Lee Cohen did not agree and claimed such a change could have consequences for Meghan.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle currently hold the Dukedom of Sussex titles (Image: Getty)
He told GBN America: “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.”
Meanwhile, royal commentator Ingrid Seward dismissed any claims of the pair losing their titles saying: “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.”
