Meghan and Harry demoted by royal family, one day after baby’s birth
Buckingham Palace delivered a sneaky slapdown to Meghan and Harry – the day after they informed the family of their daughter’s birth.
With the birth of their daughter, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are attempting to repair battered relations with Buckingham Palace.
But it appears Meghan and Harry have copped a sneaky snub, only one day after informing the royal family about the birth of Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor – named in honour of her grandmother, Princess Diana, and great-grandmother, The Queen.
Over the weekend, keen royal watchers noticed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had slipped down a few notches on the official website of the British Crown, Vanity Fair reported.
Under the “Family” section of Royal.uk, where people can read about the functions of the monarchy and each of its members, Queen Elizabeth sits at the top of the page, followed by her son, Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla Parker Bowles.
Underneath are Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Until recently, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were next in line. But on Saturday, the website – which had been offline while “under construction” for several weeks – returned with the now California-based couple demoted down several spaces.
Harry and Meghan have been pushed below Charles’ sister Princess Anne, his scandal-plagued brother Prince Andrew, and even his youngest brother Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
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Harry’s updated bio on the website now reads, “As announced in January, The Duke and Duchess have stepped back as senior members of The Royal Family. They are balancing their time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour their duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and their patronages. Frogmore Cottage in the UK remains their family home.”
Meghan’s bio includes the same language and reads, “The Duchess will continue to support a number of charitable causes and organisations which reflect the issues with which she has long been associated including the arts, access to education, support for women and animal welfare.”
Some on social media questioned why the pair were still featured on the website at all.
“Why? They are not working royals and they aren’t ‘dividing their time between the UK and North America’, why are they being promoted in the website?” one user said on Twitter.
“This isn’t about being petty. That website is a government site to be used ONLY for official business and working royals.”
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On Sunday, Meghan and Harry announced through their press secretary that their second child had been born on Friday, June 4, at 11.40am at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California.
According to Page Six, the first thing they did after Lili’s birth was to phone the Queen and the rest of the family, including Prince Charles and Prince William.
Queen Elizabeth II was “delighted” at the birth of a daughter to her grandson Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Sunday.
“The Queen, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” a palace spokeswoman said.