Several petitions have requested that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who gave up their senior royal roles in 2020 and moved to Montecito, California, be stripped of their royal titles.
The Parallel Parliament filed a petition following the couple’s move that stated:
"The title was given to them at marriage on the basis that they would be working royals serving the monarchy. As this is no longer the case, this title cannot be used for personal financial gain. It therefore has no purpose and must be removed."
Weighing in on the petition, rejected in 2021, royal expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital:
“There has been a petition, a movement from the people of the county of Sussex, they’re supposed to represent, to remove them. Why? Because they're taking the name but they're not doing anything for the people of Sussex. This is not a celebrity role. It is a role of duty. Why would anybody want the title if they don't want to do their duty to the people of the county of Sussex? You either do or you don't. You can't have your cake and eat it too."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle became the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when the late Queen Elizabeth II granted them their royal rank following their wedding in May 2018.
"The Queen has today been pleased to confer a Dukedom on Prince Henry of Wales. His titles will be Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel," the Royal website had stated on the day after the couple’s wedding.
Prince Harry’s father, King Charles III, who has ascended the throne following the demise of Britain’s longest-serving monarch, has continued to give the couple their royal titles.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were "welcomed with open arms at the time" after their title appointing, Hilary Fordwich was cited by Fox News Digital as recalling.
“We saw the royal wedding, we saw the outpouring from the public in support of them. She was welcomed with open arms at that time. Don't forget Prince Harry was one of the favorites. He's plummeted in the polls now but he was one of the Royal favorites," she said.
However, in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as senior royals in the family purchased a $14 million home in Montecito, California, where they set off to live a life of financial independence and raise their two children: Archie and Lilibet.
After the duo “broke ranks” with the royal fold, a succession of online petitions surfaced, with Prince Harry increasingly facing scrutiny by the media and British citizens.
The couple proceeded to drop so-called “truth bombs” in a succession of tell-all interviews, shedding light on the inner workings of Buckingham Palace.
In Apple TV+’s mental health docuseries, "The Me You Can’t See," Prince Harry dished to host Oprah Winfrey that the royal fold gave him nothing but "total silence and total neglect" in response to Meghan Markle’s difficulty adjusting to her new life at the palace.
"We spent four years trying to make it work… We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job. But Meghan was struggling," said Prince Harry.
In the March 2021 bombshell interview Meghan Markle lobbed some exposive accusations about the royal family involving racism. According to her, there was a conversation with a member of the family and Prince Harry about their son, Archie, and "how dark” he “was going to be."
"They didn’t want him to be a prince, or princess, depending on what the gender would be," Markle said.
The couple repeatedly touched upon their struggles with being in the crosshairs of the media frenzy.
A man watches a phone screen showing an interview of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, by Oprah Winfrey, in London Monday, March 8, 2021.
© AP Photo / Aaron Chown
Regarding the petition to remove Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal titles, royal expert Hilary Fordwich was cited as saying:
"If you're Duchess of Sussex and Duke of Sussex you're supposed to serve the people and your duty is to be there and to go there and visit people's homes and go to churches and go to schools and go to hospitals. That's what the Duke and Duchess do. That's what they should do."
Looking ahead, the royal expert speculated that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would continue to keep their royal titles "unless Parliament says otherwise."
"They can also keep the His Royal Highness/Her Royal Highness, currently, but that could be changed. Diana Princess of Wales had hers rescinded. She lost the HRH honorific," she said.