bitchy | Prince William ‘will strip Harry & Meghan of their HRHs’ as soon as he’s king

The Duchess of Sussex gave her first podcast interview to her friend Jamie Kern Lima, and the pod was released on Monday. Meghan made so much news on the podcast, talking about all kinds of interesting things. Obviously, an entire national media has become obsessed with one off-hand moment in the podcast. That moment: Lima described receiving a gift basket from Meghan last year, a basket with some jam and a nice little note. Lima then added a photo of the basket on the YouTube video, and Meghan’s note included her full title, “HRH The Duchess of Sussex.” In 2020, the Sussexes promised to not use their HRHs, but the Windsors promised to provide security and space for a year, and that did not happen. So, this has become a Defcon 1 emergency in the British media and royalist media. So much so that I’m pretty sure that Prince William and Kate were late to their event in Scotland yesterday because William was throwing a raging tantrum about Meghan’s title and style. Obviously, Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast got the exclusive! Some highlights:

William will strip the Sussexes’ HRHs: Prince William will strip Prince Harry and Meghan Markle of their HRH (His/Her Royal Highness) titles when he becomes king, after Meghan made it clear she plans to continue using the honorific, sources have told the Daily Beast. William’s determined position makes a stark contrast to that of the king, who is understood not to have any appetite for a fight on the issue.

Why Meghan feels like she can use the HRHs privately: Meghan’s side is arguing that she is entitled to use the title, provided it’s not for commercial use. A Meghan source said: “Harry and Meghan retain their HRH titles; however, by agreement, they do not use them for commercial purposes. While they do not publicly use ‘HRH,’ this was a personal gift, and their titles remain.”

The bloody Sandringham Summit deal: However, this interpretation was described by one former courtier as “complete rubbish.” This source said that the so-called Sandringham Summit, which settled the terms of Meghan and Harry’s exit from the ranks of working royalty, “made it clear they had agreed not to use the HRH titles at all, ever, in any capacity.” The official statement, which can still be seen on the official royal website, clearly supports this interpretation. It reads: “The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the Royal Family.”

William despises the Sussexes: The former courtier added: “Charles might be happy to put up with this, but William won’t. He loathes and despises Harry and Meghan with every bone in his body, he believes they have betrayed everything the family stands for and the idea that they are using their royal status as a calling card will enrage him.”

A provocation: Friends of William told the Daily Beast last week that they thought Meghan was testing the waters by posting a letter addressing her as HRH from the vice president of Ukraine, but had “deniability” because the note came from someone else. Printing up compliments slips using her HRH is an entirely different scale of provocation.

Charles has lost control: A friend of William’s told the Daily Beast: “Charles has completely lost control. It’s apparent that Harry and Meghan have every intention of making his final years a misery, just as he feared they would. Meghan using her HRH exposes how weak and enfeebled he is. She knows he won’t do anything. There is no way King William will stand for this. The titles will simply be removed when he is king. A way will be found.”

I was expecting William to rage-shriek about Meghan’s HRH. What I didn’t expect was this attack on Charles: “Meghan using her HRH exposes how weak and enfeebled he is. She knows he won’t do anything.” Holy sh-t. That says so much more about William than it does Charles, Meghan or Harry. Charles is a rotten old sh-thead, but I don’t fault him for not chiming in or making a big fuss over the HRHs and Sussex titles. Harry even gave Charles several months to decide if he wanted to remove anything or change anything back in late 2022 and early 2023, and Charles shrugged it off. That’s not Charles being “weak” or “enfeebled” – that’s Charles playing a long game and not running around like a violently temperamental hothead and rage-addict like William.

As for William stomping his feet and throwing this huge tantrum… well, this is truly the only thing he’s passionate about at this point and it’s the only reason he wants to be king. His first order of business will be a formal revocation of Harry and Meghan’s HRH styles. And what happens then? Harry and Meghan will laugh and continue to enjoy their lives in sunny California.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.