Prince Harry, Prince Andrew to remain as counsellors of state for King Charles

The House of Lords has discussed Prince Harry and Prince Andrew’s roles for the first time after King Charles made a shock move.

Prince Andrew and Prince Harry are two of five members of Britain’s royal family in line to stand-in for King Charles if he falls ill or travels abroad, despite them no longer being working royals.

The BBC reports that the current pool of five “counsellors of state” could be widened, potentially adding royals such as Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

But questions were this week raised in the House of Lords about the need to update the rules for eligibility.

Labour peer Viscount Stansgate had challenged how Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, could be two of the five potential replacements when one had “left public life” and the other had “left the country”.

Prince Harry and Prince Andrew will retain their roles as counsellors of state. Picture: AFP

King Charles III may be expanding the current pool of five counsellors of state. Picture: AFP

Currently two counsellors of state can act when the monarch is absent and they are appointed from the four most senior adults in the line of succession, plus the consort.

That group currently consists of Queen Consort Camilla, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and his eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice.

They can carry out official duties, such as signing documents, receiving ambassadors or attending Privy Council meetings, if the monarch is sick and unable to perform usual duties or abroad.

Any update to the line-up will require an amendment to the Regency Act, which is under the auspices of the Cabinet Office, but there appears to be momentum behind such a constitutional change.

Prince Andrew could stand in for King Charles if the monarch travels overseas. Picture: Getty Images

Depending on the legislative timetable, there could be changes later this year, reflecting the need to have stand-ins in place when both the King and Queen Consort and Prince and Princess of Wales could be on overseas trips in 2023, the publication reports.

Earlier this week, Mr Stansgate raised the issue in the House of Lords.

“Are the Government happy to continue with a situation where the counsels of state and regency powers may be exercised by the Duke of York or the Duke of Sussex, one of whom has left public life and the other of whom has left the country?” he asked.

“Is it not time for the Government to approach the King to see whether a sensible amendment can be made to this Act?”

Princess Anne and Prince Edward may be added to the list of counsellors of state. Picture: AFP

Leader of the House Lords Nicholas True said the King acknowledged a need “to make such provision as will [ …] secure the exercise of the Royal Authority”.

“In that spirit, the Government will always consider what arrangements are needed to ensure resilience in our constitutional arrangements,” he added.

“In the past we have seen that the point of accession has proved a useful opportunity to consider the arrangements in place.”

The last time the monarch was out the country was when the late Queen visited Malta for the 2015 Commonwealth summit.

Under the Regency Act, counsellors of state are the spouse of the monarch and the next four in the line of succession, over the age of 21.

SUSSEXES DONATE TO CHARITIES IN NIGERIA

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a donation to charities working in Nigeria after Meghan Markle announced she is 43 per cent Nigerian on her latest Archetypes podcast, it has been revealed.

During the sixth episode, Markle revealed she discovered she is 43 per cent Nigerian after doing a genealogy test “a couple years ago”.

Meghan Markle has revealed she has Nigerian heritage. Picture: AFP

In a press release which accompanied the episode, a Spotify representative confirmed that the couple’s Archewell Foundation made donations to Save the Children and Unicef.

Speaking to Nigerian-American comedian Ziwe Fumudoh on the podcast, Meghan said: “I just had my genealogy done a couple years ago... [I’m] 43 per cent Nigerian.

“I’m going to start to dig deeper into all this because anybody that I’ve told, especially Nigerian women, are like “What!”’

“This is huge for our community,” Ziwe replied. “No, honestly, you do look like a Nigerian, you look like my Aunt Uzo. So this is great.”

CLUE THAT MEGHAN, HARRY WON’T RETURN TO ROYAL LIFE

A royal expert says Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have left a telling clue that they will never return to the royal family.

The couple’s Archewell website was updated last weekend - showing new glitzy photographs of them on their whirlwind European tour, along with press releases about their recent work, The Sun reports.

The Sussexes have revealed a telling clue that they will not be returning to royal life. Picture: AFP

The Archewell home page features a photo of the smiling couple beside bold lettering which states: “Each of us can change our communities. All of us can change the world.”

But the website does not mention the late Queen at all - or any link to the royal family.

Royal expert Angela Levine told The Sun: “What’s very interesting is you can always read the underlying content of what they want to say really, and the main thing, right at the beginning, is ‘each of us can change our communities’.

“I think that’s saying very much that they can do without the royal family, they don’t need them, they’re fine where they are, they’re building another community.