PRINCE Harry must be stripped of his Duke of Sussex title for “trashing” the royal family, senior MPs are demanding.
Tory Bob Seely will unveil legislation which could see Harry’s dukedom downgraded in the same way German royals were stripped of their titles during the First World War.
MPs are demanding Prince Harry must be stripped of his Duke of Sussex title
Tory Bob Seely will unveil legislation which could see Harry’s dukedom downgraded
Harry pictured with his father, now King Charles, and brother William, now the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall
The new powers would allow the members of the Privy Council to formally take the distinguished names away from both Harry and Meghan.
Meanwhile, an online survey for HOAR revealed an overwhelming 89 per cent of 31,300 readers who voted thought the pair should have their titles taken away.
Separate poll questions also revealed 78 per cent say the Sussexes should not attend the Coronation and 70 per cent think Harry’s book Spare — published yesterday — is “disgraceful”.
Meanwhile, 82 per cent think Harry and Prince William won’t now be able to reconcile and 83 per cent think the Royals should not respond to Harry’s mudslinging.
Mr Seely told HOAR: “They seem to hate the institution of the royal family but seem perfectly happy to use its titles.
“Don’t use the titles to trash the institution.
“Harry is not behaving with any dignity whatsoever in all this.”
He earlier told the BBC: “If he hates the institution so much, why doesn’t he… set an example and become Mr Windsor.
“To trade on titles while at the same time trashing the Royal Family, the whole thing is sad and desperate.”
Tory MP Tim Loughton, whose East Worthing constituency is in Sussex, said: “The Duke of Sussex has refused to take the advice of his grandfather Prince Philip of ‘look up and look out, say less, do more, and get on with the job’.
“The way he has conducted himself in such a public way is embarrassing to the residents of Sussex and deeply hurtful to his family coming so soon after the death of the Queen.
“He has clearly opted out of the job and therefore he should opt out of the titles and the perks that come with it.”
Harry also faced fury yesterday from his mother Diana’s ex-butler, Paul Burrell, who said he doesn’t recognise ‘the young man I see today’.
In his controversial memoir Spare, the Duke of Sussex said Diana’s former butler was ‘milking’ her death for money when he published his 2001 book A Royal Duty.
But on Australian TV show Sunrise, Mr Burrell said: “What I see now is an angry, petulant, privileged prince who is constantly blaming other people and not taking accountability on his part.”
The Government has tried to stay out of the row over Harry’s memoir, and No10 has refused to back Mr Seely’s legislation.
Science Minister George Freeman earlier this week cryptically posted a message on Instagram saying: “Spare? Spare us. Thank god for the King and all the working royals and all they do.”
Harry has already hit back at calls for his Duke title to be taken away.
He told US network CBS: “What difference would that make?”
The Prince has faced stinging criticism for repeatedly breaching his own privacy, despite complaining about Press intrusion.
In the book, he reveals how he and Meghan spent the night at a hotel on the day of the anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, and recalls waiting “breathlessly” outside her room until she opened the door and “pulled me inside”.
He wrote: “I want to say we hung a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door. But I don’t think there was time.”
Meanwhile Harry was mocked by chatshow host Stephen Colbert ahead of yet another US TV appearance.
The Late Show host told viewers to “stock up on corgis and steal a priceless cultural treasure from one of your colonies” saying his show was “going imperial.”
The audience groaned ahead of Harry’s appearance at CBS’s New York studio, as Colbert said Spare was “also available on audiobook and commemorative plate”.
He joked about Harry being ignored by Prince William at Eton, and said: “That’s heartbreaking. I mean, to be rejected by his older brother at school even though that magic hat sorted them into the same house.”
“What do you think?” he asked his audience. “Hufflepuff? Hufflepuff? Gryffindor, I’m not sure.”
Mr Seely said: ‘They seem to hate the institution of the royal family but seem perfectly happy to use its titles’
Late Show host Stephen Colbert mocked Harry ahead of another US TV appearance
