Queen ‘has no plans’ to strip Harry and Meghan of royal titles

The Queen has no plans to strip the official titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Harry and Meghan – but the couple will lose a string of patronages.

The pair remain His and Her Royal Highness, although they are not permitted to use those titles on a day-to-day basis as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family.

A spokesman for the Sussexes said there was ‘absolutely no question’ they had wanted to retain the positions they had lost, adding: ‘They do respect the decision but they always made clear they were committed to doing the roles.’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will have to relinquish their roles with a number of organisations including Harry’s presidency of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust. Pictured: Harry and Meghan attend a roundtable discussion with the trust at Windsor Castle in 2019

Among patronages Harry must give up is his role with the London Marathon Charitable Trust

Palace sources told the Mail that official positions were ‘simply incompatible’ with the couple’s new commercial careers in the US.

However, stripping the couple of every vestige of their old lives – including the Sussex titles – was not an option for the Queen.

Palace insiders believed it would be ‘unduly punitive’ to take away the couple’s HRHs.

Such a step could have provoked uncomfortable comparisons with Harry’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales, who lost her HRH after divorcing Prince Charles.

A source told the Mail: ‘They are still the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Your Royal Highnesses, although they won’t be using the latter. That was agreed last January and nothing has changed.’

Of the duke, they said: ‘He was born Prince Harry and will always be Prince Harry, while the [Sussex title] was a wedding gift.

Although he will keep HRH, Harry will give up his patronage role with Rugby Football League

Prince Harry must also give up his role with the Rugby Football Union. Pictured: Prince Harry presents Richie McCaw of New Zealand with the Webb Ellis Cup after 2015 World Cup finals

‘Regardless of what has happened, he will still be the grandson of the monarch, the son of a future monarch and the brother of a future monarch. That will never change.

‘And he will still be those things even though he has chosen to walk away.’

Of the pressure on Harry to relinquish all of his titles, the source said: ‘He would rightly argue that he will always be portrayed as a royal and a prince, even if he worked as a landscape gardener in LA. He will never escape [the titles]. So why change?’

As revealed by the Mail earlier this week, the Sussexes have been stripped of all royal patronages given to them by the Queen.

In addition to his military roles, Harry has had to relinquish his presidency of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, as well as the role of patron at the Rugby Football Union, the Rugby Football League and the London Marathon Charitable Trust.

Meghan was given two patronages in 2019 including at the Royal National Theatre (pictured)

The Queen handed Meghan two royal patronages in 2019 – at the Royal National Theatre and the Association of Commonwealth Universities – but these are now lost too.

Meghan must also give up her role as vice-president of the Commonwealth Trust.

She will, however, retain her two private patronages at the employment charity Smart Works and animal welfare group Mayhew.

Her husband will also keep private roles with African Parks, Dolen Cymru, the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, MapAction, Rhino Conservation Botswana, Sentebale, WellChild and the Invictus Games for wounded soldiers.