Dukedom was given as a wedding present

HARRY may be under pressure to relinquish his dukedom – but there is no suggestion Queen Elizabeth would strip him of it.

She conferred on him the titles of Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel on his wedding day in 2018. Were he to give those up, he would revert to HRH Prince Henry of Wales and Meghan would become HRH Princess Henry of Wales. As sixth in line to the throne, the title of prince is his birthright, although he could choose not to use it.

When the couple decided they would no longer represent Queen Elizabeth in an official capacity, they were allowed to retain their royal titles and HRH styles, although they agreed not to use the latter.

Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, agreed to give up her HRH title when she and Prince Charles divorced, but when Harry and Meghan stepped back as working royals, Palace officials reportedly felt the loss of HRH would appear too ‘punitive’.

Similar concerns led Palace sources to suggest that the queen is unlikely to remove the dukedom, particularly as it was a wedding gift.

The last occasion when a senior member of Britain’s royal family had titles removed was after the abdication crisis of 1936 when Edward VIII was given the title of HRH the Duke of Windsor.

Rules around the HRH style were set in Letters Patent issued by George V in 1917. In them, he stipulated that the son of the son of a monarch is HRH and so, by convention, is his spouse. Monarchs are, however, free to change the rules.

Queen Elizabeth issued fresh Letters Patent in 1996 to remove HRH from those who had acquired it on marrying into the family and who then got divorced, namely Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson.

It was not done out of spite – Diana had already volunteered to lose her HRH style – but of the principle that royal status acquired on marriage would disappear if that union was dissolved.