His Highness No More? Prince Harry Loses His Title On Official Royal Website

In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, made headlines when they declared they were stepping back from royal duties. As a result, Buckingham Palace issued a statement of what Harry and Meghan could no longer do, including going by HRH titles.  Although Harry and Meghan adhered to this criterion, public use of Harry's HRH title has occasionally popped up, like at a 2021 Kensington Palace display of Princess Diana's wedding dress. 

While Meghan's HRH title was promptly removed from the royal family's official website, Harry's has been removed only recently. On August 4, Express reported that Harry's HRH title appeared twice on the site, despite the palace stipulation that he longer use this title. A few days later, Express noted the site was updated, eliminating the duke's HRH titles.

Harry's HRH title was one of many items on the site awaiting revision. There were also multiple instances of King Charles being referred to as the Prince of Wales, Prince William's title since September 9, 2022, the day after Queen Elizabeth's II's death. However, revising the website is no small job. "The Royal Family website contains over five thousand pages of information," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson informed The Telegraph. "Following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, content has been revisited and updated periodically. Some content may be out of date until this process is complete."

Although he's no longer a working royal, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, was born a prince and maintains his spot as fifth in the line of succession. He also continues to be one of the Counsellors of State, although it is unlikely he would be called upon to act on behalf of King Charles since he lives in California. While he's not permitted to use his HRH title, The Guardian reported in 2020 that Harry would "technically retain" this title. For example, Harry's HRH title was used on official court papers in 2023 in accordance with legal precedent.

In addition, Harry continues to be Duke of Sussex, a title that was a wedding gift from Queen Elizabeth in when Harry and Meghan Markle got married in 2018. In the wake of the Netflix series "Harry and Meghan," Bob Seely, a member of U.K. parliament, suggested the prince should drop his duke title. "If Harry Windsor doesn't like the monarchy, don't be part of it, but don't use your titles and trash the institution," Seely asserted to The Telegraph. "Parliament should act to remove them."

For his part, Harry doesn't seem to be wrapped up in using his titles. In February 2020, just as his time as a working royal was ending, when Harry appeared at an event in Edinburgh, Scotland, host Ayesha Hazarika told the audience: "He's made it clear that we are all just to call him 'Harry,'" per People.