Despite It All, King Charles Absolutely “Refuses” to Strip Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of Their Duke and Duchess of Sussex Titles

At the end of the day, come what may, King Charles is still a father who loves his son and daughter-in-law, and one that The Mirror reports “refuses” to strip Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles—conferred to them on their May 2018 wedding day by Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

This week has been a particularly difficult one, what with allegations from Omid Scobie’s explosive new book Endgame (Scobie insists that Harry and Meghan were not involved in any way in the project). Regardless, Harry and Meghan’s titles will stay, The Mirror reports, because Charles “never wants to humiliate them,” and that he hasn’t even contemplated the move.

Even though Harry and Meghan stepped back as working members of the royal family nearly four years ago in January 2020, they have retained their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles, though not their HRH (His or Her Royal Highness) title prefixes.

The King is “not a punitive man” and, while Buckingham Palace is “considering all options” on how to respond to the Endgame melee, demoting Harry and Meghan will never happen as long as Charles is on the throne. “That is just something that would not be considered,” a source said.

This doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen, but even if it did, by birth Harry is a prince, and that title can never be taken away; by marrying a birth prince, Meghan is a princess, but instead of being Princess Meghan, she would be referred to as Princess Henry, reflective of her husband’s birth name (Harry is a nickname).