King Charles “wouldn’t be happy” to remove the royal titles from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, according to a royal expert.

Prince Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties back in 2020, leaving the UK for Montecito, California. Following their decision, it was announced that the couple would drop their HRH titles – simply being known as Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Multiple controversies from the couples, including their 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, as well as Prince Harry’s tell-all Spare memoir, and Omid Scobie’s recently released Endgame book, has sparked calls for their titles to be removed.

Conservative MP Bob Seely has led calls to have the Sussexes titles removed, proposing legislation that would lead them being simply referred to as Mr and Mrs.

But former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond feels it’s unlikely that the King would want to remove their titles: “I don’t think King Charles would be happy about any overt move to strip Harry and Meghan of titles. He is not vindictive and this would be seen as that.”

She said it would “deepen the rift and the hurt”.