The majority of Britons believe that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, should be stripped of their titles, following a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey where the woke couple accused a member of the royal family of racism.
A Deltapoll study taken three weeks after the interview found that 58 per cent of Britons believe Meghan and Harry should have their royal titles removed.
At a ratio of less than one to two, just 28 per cent disagree, according to a report in The Mirror on Tuesday.
The findings are largely in line with other polling data. A survey commissioned by the Daily Mail and published in early March found that the majority (51 per cent) think that they should have their titles removed, compared to 28 per cent who disagreed.
A British YouGov poll from mid-March found that public opinion for Meghan and Harry had never been lower.
The Mirror reports that last month, Buckingham Palace officials were holding crisis talks to discuss whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should lose their titles following the interview in which they made the claim that a member of the royal family had discussed the colour of their then-unborn son Archie and that Meghan had been denied mental health support.
Prince William hit back in defence of his family, telling reporters that “we are very much not a racist family.”
Queen Elizabeth II took the extraordinary move of issuing a statement saying that she was “saddened” by the impression Harry and Meghan had given of their lives in the interview but appeared to suggest that allegations regarding discussions related to Archie’s skin colour were not true, saying that “some recollections may vary”.
While the newspaper reports that Buckingham Palace courtiers discussed removing their courtesy titles, it would conflict with the Queen’s agreement that the couple could retain them, as they were gifts bestowed by the monarch on their wedding day.
Prince Harry would retain the title ‘prince’ and His Royal Highness (HRH), as he was born with them. If the dukedom were removed, Meghan could still be referred to as Princess Henry of Wales.
The Sun reports that they were stripped of some titles in February, just over a year after they announced they were stepping back from being working royals. Such titles included Prince Harry’s military appointments and other patronages.
Harry is still the sixth in line to the throne, behind his father, brother, and his brother’s three children, and it would take legislation to remove him from the succession.
It was also revealed on Wednesday that Harry and Meghan’s first Netflix series would be on the Invictus Games, an international sporting event for injured or wounded servicemen and veterans. Prince Harry first helped to set up the games in 2014, and the series, produced by the couple’s Archewell Productions, will likely focus on preparations for next year’s events.
Meghan and Harry already have a podcast deal with Spotify.
Last month, it was announced that Prince Harry had taken on two new roles, one as a member of a commission at an American think tank tackling fake news and the other as a chief “impact officer” at a Californian “mental fitness” coaching start-up.