Tory MP hatching plan to strip Harry and Meghan of their royal titles for 'trashing' Britain as 'racist hellhole'
9 December 2022, 15:16
A Conservative MP wants to bring in a new law that would strip Harry and Meghan of their royal titles.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Bob Seely said he could table a private members' bill next year that could give the privy council the power to downgrade their status, after the royal couple's critical Netflix documentary, the first half of which was released on Thursday.
The Isle of Wight MP said that Harry should not "trade on his titles" as a platform to denounce the UK as a "racist hellhole".
Mr Seely told LBC's Shelagh Fogarty: "The broader point is that the Royal Family are part of this country. It’s not a Republican vs monarchist argument.
Harry is 'trashing our country' as though it is a 'racist hell-hole'
"They’re part of this country’s constitution, and I do think if Harry wishes to trade on his titles, which sadly he seems to be doing, while at the same time trashing parts of our constitution."
Mr Seely plans to put forward an amendment to the law passed in 1923 that enable MPs to strip royals who had supported Germany of their titles.
He told Sheila: "I do think parliament does have a role here, because the royal family are not there by divine right. They lost that battle 350 years ago, when King Charles had his head cut off by parliament."
Mr Seely added that he did not think Harry should be allowed to be call the country "a racist hellhole" while still being officially a royal.
Sheila pushed back on the MP's claims, telling him that Harry had not said that the UK is a racist country, although he did criticise the British press for reporters' treatment of his wife.
But a No 10 spokesman said that the government does not support the proposal.
Harry has accused the royals of having a "huge level of unconscious bias", while Meghan has claimed that the media wanted to "destroy" her.
The third episode of the documentary also touched on the time Princess Michael of Kent wore a blackamoor-style brooch that Meghan and Harry said was racist.
Harry said: "In this family, sometimes you are part of the problem rather than part of the solution. There is a huge level of unconscious bias."
It comes after the government also dismissed calls from one of its ministers for a boycott of the Netflix documentary.
Employment minister Guy Opperman described Harry and Meghan as "clearly a very troubled couple" but said they had faced "unacceptable" press intrusion.
This caller tells Shelagh Fogarty that she relates to Meghan
"I would urge everyone to boycott Netflix and make sure that we actually focus on the things that matter," he told BBC Question Time.
The Downing Street spokesman told journalists "it's a matter for the public what channels they want to watch".
