Meghan Markle will be called 'Princess Henry of Wales' if Queen strips Harry of Duke of Sussex title: Expert
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have held onto their Duke and Duchess of Sussex peerage and HRH (His/Her Royal Highness) titles. Critics, however, haven't approve of the couple's recent commercial activity and are now calling for them to lose the titles altogether.
Now, many are wondering whether Meghan would become known as "Princess Henry" if she lost her Duchess title.
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Could Meghan become 'Princess Henry'?
It is highly unlikely that the Sussexes will lose their HRH and Duke and Duchess titles because there are barely any historical precedents for it, constitutional expert Ian MacMarthanne told Express UK. According to him, the most likely way Harry would lose his title would be by renouncing it himself by petitioning his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth. If that happens, Meghan would technically become "Meghan, Princess Henry of Wales."
"Were the Duke of Sussex to use the 1963 legislation and renounce his peerage he would automatically revert to being HRH Prince Henry of Wales, and when his father became King, HRH The Prince Henry," MacMarthanne told Express UK. "If Prince Harry were to renounce his peerage his wife would cease to be the Duchess of Sussex and would instead become HRH Princess Henry of Wales and subsequently HRH The Princess Henry."
Meghan holds her duchess title only because of her marriage to Prince Harry, MacMarthanne asserted. "It should be remembered that as far as his wife is concerned she enjoys his titles as a courtesy of their marriage, she does not hold them in her own right, and consequently she would not be formally known as Princess Meghan," he explained.
"The application of her own name would only be appropriate were she to divorce, and in keeping with custom her Christian name would prefix her former title, thus becoming Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at present, or Meghan, Princess Henry of Wales, etc in the future, should the Sussex peerage have been renounced by that stage," MacMarthanne added.
And should Harry and Meghan choose to give up their titles themselves, they would reportedly become Mr and Mrs Harry Mountbatten-Windsor.
"If Prince Harry were to choose to renounce his peerage, and petition the Queen to relinquish his royal styles and titles, and presuming no courtesy title of ‘Lord’ is assumed, being the son of a duke himself, then TRH’s Prince and Princess Henry, Duke and Duchess of Sussex would become Mr and Mrs Harry Mountbatten-Windsor, or by whatever other name or names they might choose to be known," MacMarthanne explained.
Why Harry and Meghan likely won't lose their titles
The Sussexes probably won't lose their titles because of a lack of historical precedent for such a move.
"There is in some quarters a feeding frenzy at present for the removal of all or some of Prince Harry’s titles," MacMarthanne explained. "However, before entertaining such an idea there are a few first-stage considerations to be embraced. Within the context of present circumstances, Prince Harry was born an HRH and prince, and there is no modern precedent for someone born as such being stripped of these styles and titles."
"The Sussex peerage is a hereditary creation and was given as a gift by the Queen," he added.