Over the weekend, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle issued a statement about the Queen‘s decision to ban them from using the term Royal, and insiders are fuming.
The statement said that the Queen had no legal authority to ban the phrase: “While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ or any iteration of the word ‘Royal’ in any territory.”
Insiders tell The Daily Mail that they hope they nix the dissent: “Let’s just hope they feel they have got whatever they want to get out of their system. It was their decision to do this and the family is clearly trying their best to facilitate it. But it inevitably requires sacrifices on both sides and the Sussexes need to be rather more gracious about it. Sniping from the sidelines doesn’t help anyone.”
Meghan and Harry’s statement also appeared to draw a line between their treatment and that of royals, saying their trademark applications were given a 12-month review, whereas those of Prince William, Kate Middleton and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were quickly greenlighted: “While there is precedent for other titled members of the royal family to seek employment outside of the institution, for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a 12-month review period has been put in place.”
Meanwhile, sources tell Vanity Fair that the Queen is over the whole thing: “The Queen has been keen to get this resolved because she sees it is damaging to the monarchy and on a personal level I think this has been rather hurtful for her. She has got to the point where she doesn’t want to think about it anymore, she just wants it over and done with.”