'Maintain the Perception of Royalty': Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Keep Their Titles to 'Impress' the Right People in Hollywood

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are only "royal to the people they are trying to impress" in Hollywood, despite their intended goal to "step back" from the British monarchy. Furthermore, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex need to "maintain the perception of royalty" in order to feel validated in Tinseltown, which views them more as "reality stars," according to royal commentator Kinsey Schofield.

In fact, the royal expert feels that the ex-working royals are similar to another ex-monarchy member, Sarah Ferguson, in more ways than they may realize.

"Sarah came to America to magnify her celebrity. To make money off her association with the royals," Schofield added. "Sarah partnered with Oprah Winfrey several times, produced Hollywood films, wrote books, and even appeared as a product pusher on one of the home shopping networks."

No one would likely go so far as to hail Ferguson as a "major celebrity" and "influential humanitarian," which numerous analysts have claimed are the hoped-for titles for the Montecito twosome.

This insight follows the couple's recent "roasting" by Golden Globe Awards host Jo Koy, at the Sunday, January 7 gala event. Koy's dig at the ex-working royals continues a streak of Tinseltown personalities "turning" on the duo ever since Spotify canceled their contract last June. With 2024 not starting any differently than the pair's "disastrous" 2023, it seems that Harry and Meghan may also have more to worry about than jokes from comics.

Despite their royal titles, which reportedly do not mean much in America, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex experienced more "pitfalls" last year than can be counted on two hands. But it was arguably the shift in how Hollywood assessed the pair that garnered the most attention. Harry and Meghan went through a "freeze out" in the City of Angels that seemed to be thawing out before the arrival of Omid Scobie's book, Endgame, in late November.

As the British sovereign, King Charles III can remove Harry and Meghan's HRH styles by simply issuing a Letters Patent, making it so. He could also remove Harry's "prince" style, which also extends to Meghan as "Princess Henry" by virtue of marriage. It would take the U.K. parliament passing acts of legislation to remove the "Duke/Duchess of Sussex" titles and/or to strike Harry and his two children from the line of succession to the throne.

Still, others claim that the King will likely never do his part in removing his youngest son and daughter-in-law's royal address. However, in the British legislature, a Conservative MP vowed in December 2023 to introduce a bill to potentially become an Act of Parliament to remove Harry's Dukedom, which would also automatically erase Meghan's right to use her Duchess title.

Daily Express reported on Schofield's remarks.