Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for Prince Harry to relinquish his royal titles.
Despite officially stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family back in February, Prince Harry is still recognized as a ‘prince’ and the Duke of Sussex, and wife Meghan Markle is the Duchess of Sussex.
However, royal expert Lady Colin Campbell firmly disagrees with this, and has started an online Change.org petition for Prince Harry to “voluntarily” ask the Queen to put his “royal style, titles and rank into abeyance”.
Lady Campbell writes in the petition’s description that doing so would free Prince Harry “from the diplomatic, political and constitutional constraints that are an inevitable part of royal rank” and from the “constitutional conflicts which his beliefs are creating, with all their implications at home and abroad”.
The description continues: “As a purely private citizen, with no royal rank, style or title, he will be able to indulge his personal beliefs, as is the right of all private citizens, without the consequential possibility of damaging the institution of the Monarchy or relations between Friendly Powers, and will be free to articulate beliefs, no matter how objectionable, without the fallout that is otherwise inevitable as long as he possesses royal status.”
Concluding her reasoning for the petition, Lady Campbell writes that with his royal titles, Prince Harry will be able to “enjoy the credit of having put both national and international interests above his own, personal ones, in the process gaining him respect that he otherwise will not enjoy.”
And the petition has certainly hit a mark with many people, amassing more than 30,000 signatures as of this writing.
Under the ‘Reasons for Signing’ section, one disgruntled person called Susan writes: “He despises everything about [Great] Britain and his life including his family, our royal family. I feel he is past redemption. We cannot have someone like this in the line of succession.”
Another disgruntled signee named Alexander writes: “Using his title to cause trouble is damaging to our country.”
Upon officially stepping down as Royals earlier this year, a statement from Buckingham Palace read: "Following conversations with The Duke, The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of The Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.
"The honorary military appointments and Royal patronages held by The Duke and Duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty, before being redistributed among working members of The Royal Family.
"While all are saddened by their decision, The Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family."
Both Harry and Meghan also responded to the move with their own statement, telling their fans that they will always be "committed to their duty and service to the UK".
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