'What difference would it make?': Harry suggests he and Meghan will never drop royal titles
9 January 2023, 08:51 | Updated: 9 January 2023, 08:52
Prince Harry has explained why he and Meghan Markle have kept hold of their titles despite stepping down as senior royals.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a bombshell announcement in January 2020 that they wanted to quit as working members of the Royal Family.
The couple said they wanted to work to become financially independent, while continuing to support the Queen from across the Atlantic.
But critics say that the Sussexes are still cashing in on their royal titles without any of the responsibilities associated with them.
Harry, 38, was taken to task on this during a sensational interview with Anderson Cooper on CBS' 60 minutes. It was one of a series of sit downs made by the duke ahead of the publication of his tell-all memoir, Spare.
Since relocating to California they've signed a Netflix deal worth a reported $100 million (£82 million) and a deal with Spotify worth around $25 million (£21 million).
Meghan has a number of other business ventures, and the Sussexes pull in a lot of money from public speaking engagements.
When asked why they would keep hold of their titles after distancing themselves from the palace, Harry said: "And, what difference would that make?"
Harry has made a number of explosive claims about the Royal Family in recent interviews, telling ITV that his brother Prince William attacked him and knocked him to the floor in an argument about Meghan.
He denied that he and Meghan accused the Royal Family of racism during their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, instead claiming the issue was "unconscious bias".
The duke also accused Camilla, the Queen Consort, of being willing to trade information with the British press to boost her public image, even if it was at Harry's expense.
Camilla's popularity has changed dramatically over the years since she was cast as the third person in the marriage of the then-Prince and Princess of Wales due to her affair with Charles.
Harry told Cooper: "She was the villain, she was a third person in the marriage, she needed to rehabilitate her image.
"The need for her to rehabilitate her image...that made her dangerous because of the connections that she was forging within the British press.
Read more: Harry says he was ‘not invited’ on plane to Balmoral to see the late Queen before she died
"And there was open willingness on both sides to trade information and with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on the way to being Queen Consort, there was going to be people or bodies left in the street because of that."
In his book, which was published by accident in Spain five days ahead of the official release date, Harry also claims Camilla changed his bedroom into her own dressing room as soon as he moved out - a move which deeply upset him.
Harry also alleges in Spare that Camilla leaked details of a meeting she held with William.The Duke of Sussex described the anticipation of meeting her for the first time like "waiting for an injection" and claimed she appeared "bored" as they spoke about horses.
