Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will face "a Bill in Parliament to strip the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of their royal titles," according to a U.K. lawmaker.
Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Bob Seely said Britain should consider the "nuclear option" because the Sussexes "trash an institution that plays an important part in our nation's life."
He plans to propose an amendment that would remove Harry and Meghan's titles through existing legislation that stripped German aristocrats of their British titles during World War I.
It comes after the Dutch version of new royal book Endgame, by Omid Scobie, named King Charles III as the royal said by Meghan to have commented on Prince Archie's potential skin tone.
Kate Middleton was also described as being present for the conversation, though copies were pulled from shelves after what was described by the Dutch publisher as an "error."
Most bills put forward by backbench MPs (neither government ministers nor opposition spokespeople) like Seely in Britain fail unless they have the support of government and there is currently nothing to suggest British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would back this one.
However, faced with dire opinion polls that predict a crushing defeat at the next election, the U.K. government has become more unpredictable recently, including when Sunak sparked an unexpected diplomatic spat with Greece over sculptures known as the Elgin Marbles that are housed in the British Museum.
Seely wrote in The Mail on Sunday: "In the next couple of weeks, I shall present a Bill in Parliament to strip the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of their Royal titles.
"I'm not a republican and support the monarchy, but after the latest instalment of the couple's feud with the rest of the Royal Family, I believe that Parliament and the Privy Council should consider a nuclear option.
"The Duke and Duchess can be Mr and Mrs like the rest of us.
"My Titles Deprivation 1917 Act Amendment Bill would allow a vote in Parliament to advise the ancient advisory Privy Council to strip a member of the Royal Family of their titles.
"My aim is simple: if someone doesn't want to be Royal, that is a decision we respect—but they should not keep the titles and privileges if they trash an institution that plays an important part in our nation's life."
Scobie has said Meghan was not interviewed for the book and told Newsweek he was able to discover the names because of letters sent between Charles and Meghan in the days after her March 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, in which she mentioned the infamous conversation between Harry and a senior royal about her child's skin tone.
"Thankfully, in this situation, there's like 10 different eyes on these sorts of things," he said. "Nothing ever happens privately within the royal family."
Meghan told Oprah: "So, we have in tandem the conversation of 'He won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."
Endgame suggested the king's letter sought to clarify that there was no ill will intended in the comments made and Harry said in January 2023 that the couple did not accuse the royals of racism, but rather unconscious bias.
Harry and Meghan were stripped of honorary royal titles and patronages by Queen Elizabeth II in February 2021 but retain their duke and duchess titles, which are aristocratic and not conditional on their status as working royals.
That has been controversial for years and there were calls dating back as far as 2020 to strip them of the titles, after they made outspoken comments about the U.S. presidential election that year.
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more
