Did Harry and Meghan lose royal titles? Palace statement omits 'duke and duchess of Sussex' after Oprah interview
The two-hour explosive interview of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with Oprah Winfrey that aired on CBS on Sunday, March 7, has stirred a lot of controversies. It also widened the gap between the couple and the royal family as the relationship was already not in a good shape after Megxit. In addition, the speculations are there that the palace has already secretly stripped Meghan and Harry of their royal titles because of the chat show.
Hours after the interview was aired, a statement was released by the palace on the Queen's behalf. It received widespread criticisms for not addressing the accusations elaborately. It also gave birth to speculation that Harry and Meghan are no longer Duke and Duchess of Sussex as the official statement omitted their titles in it. However, there is no official confirmation of whether the titles have actually been dropped.
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During the tell-all, Meghan and Harry made numerous shocking revelations, which included the former actress struggling to adapt to royal life and having suicidal thoughts while being five months pregnant with Archie. She told Oprah, “I will say I went into it naively because I didn't grow up knowing much about the royal family. It wasn't something that was part of the conversation at home, it wasn't something that we followed."
The pair also talked about their mental health and how stressful it was for them to live in the UK. Meghan claimed that their son was not given the title of prince because of his 'race'. She also went on to accuse the palace of “perpetuating falsehood” as she added, “I don't know how they could expect that, after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us. And, if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, I... there is a lot that has been lost already.”
Harry talked about the orthodox mentality of the family. He said, “The family has a mentality of, ‘This is how it is, you can’t change it, we’ve all been through it.’ But what was different here was the race element. That triggered the conversations with my family and palace staff where I said: ‘This is not going to end well.’”
Even as the couple bared it all during the sit-down chat with Winfrey, Buckingham Palace didn't address the issues elaborately. After 36 hours of the interview, the monarchy released a statement, which was just 61 words long. It read, “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
Earlier in February, all military titles of Harry were taken away from him while Meghan lost patronage with The Royal National Theatre and The Association of Commonwealth Universities after the duo confirmed they would not be returning to the UK as senior working members of the family. A spokesperson for the couple said: "As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the UK and around the world and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented regardless of official role. We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.”