Prince William ‘set to strip Prince Harry, Meghan Markle of royal titles’

A furious Prince William will take drastic action over Meghan Markle and Prince Harry once he becomes king, it has been claimed.

A furious Prince William is reportedly set to strip Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of their HRH titles once he becomes King a royal insider has revealed.

“Charles might be happy to put up with this, but William won’t,” the insider told the Daily Beast, reportedly referring to Markle’s use of her HRH title alongside her lifestyle products.

“He loathes and despises Harry and Meghan with every bone in his body, he believes they have betrayed everything the family stands for and the idea that they are using their royal status as a calling card will enrage him.”

A furious Prince William is reportedly set to strip Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of their HRH titles once he becomes King, a royal insider has revealed. Picture: Getty Images

The source said Markle is in violation of an agreement with the late Queen Elizabeth II in using the HRH title — which stands for “Her Royal Highness” — in promotion of her personal brand, As Ever.

Meghan Markle has been using her HRH title privately “for years”, according to new claims, despite an agreement with Buckingham Palace not to do so.

The former working royal sparked outrage when an image of a gift basket she sent to a friend appeared on a podcast via YouTube, bearing a printed message from “HRH The Duchess of Sussex”.

The revelation has raised questions about the terms of the 2020 agreement when the Sussexes stepped away from royal duties and decamped to North America.

The Telegraph noted that Meghan Markle is using her title as a royal signature with her friends as a note attached to a gift from the Duchess bearing her “HRH” title surfaced more than a year after she sent it to a friend.

Meghan Markle appears on the Jamie Kern Lima podcast show as Kern Lima reveals the Duchess uses her HRH title privately in gifts to friends. Picture: Supplied

It was understood that the couple would maintain their titles but not actively use them.

A statement released by Buckingham Palace in January 2020 said: “The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family.”

But a source close to the couple said they had agreed not to use their titles for commercial purposes, and the basket was a personal gift.

This comes as Meghan posted to social media an image of a note from Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s vice-prime minister, that addressed her with her HRH title and apparently went uncorrected.

The note began: “Your Royal Highness, I would like to express my sincere thanks for everything your family is doing for Ukraine.”

Numerous images of gift baskets apparently from the Duchess of Sussex and the ‘HRH’ signature can be found online.

These apparent breaches of the agreement with the Palace and with Queen Elizabeth II come as Prince Harry, 40, and Meghan, 43, experiment with their styling and brand following the Queen’s death.

But a spokesperson for the Sussexes clarified at the time: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain members of the Royal Family and remain named and titled as such.

“As explained in the January [2020] announcement, from Spring they will formally retain their titles of ‘His/Her Royal Highness’ but no longer actively use their ‘HRH’s.”

The issues of royal title usage has been dredged up again after the Duchess of Sussex made her first appearance as a podcast guest on The Jamie Kern Lima Show.

During their chat, host Jamie Kern Lima, 47, recalled a time Meghan dropped off a gift basket at her house containing organic ice cream and strawberry topping, and shared a photo of the attached card: “With compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex”.

Kern Lima shared that the Duchess of Sussex had given her other gifts, also signed HRH, including a gift for Kern Lima’s 6-year-old daughter.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex during their carriage procession on Castle Hill outside Windsor Castle in Windsor, on May 19, 2018 after their wedding ceremony. Picture: Aaron Chown - WPA Pool/Getty Images

As some critics have noted, Prince Harry, who has a blood line to the royal family and is a son of King Charles, inherited his royal title and has had it in use since his birth, Meghan’s derives from her May 19, 2018 wedding to Harry, where she became the Duchess of Sussex with the HRH title, and two years later had rejected royal duties and royal family connections.