When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married in 2018, onlookers believed they would be working royals for many years. However, the couple stepped down as senior royals less than two years later and have been living in California as private citizens ever since.
Recently, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made some public appearances and even visited the royal family in the United Kingdom. According to a commentator, the couple is trying to show the public they are “still very important people.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been living as private citizens
After stepping down as senior royals and moving to California in 2020, Harry and Meghan have been living as private citizens. Although the couple still has public-facing careers, they make very few public appearances and do not have social media accounts where fans can keep up with their family.
“They have stepped back not in search of a totally private life (as some erroneously claim they wanted) but for a different kind of public life. A public life where they can have more control over who gets access to them and what they spend their time on,” royal journalist Victoria Murphy wrote for Town & Country.
The Sussexes want to convince people they are ‘still very important,’ royal commentator says
Harry and Meghan recently traveled to the Netherlands to promote the Invictus Games. On the way there, the pair also stopped by the U.K. to visit Queen Elizabeth.
Some people suspect that the U.K. visit could be a part of their rumored Netflix documentary. Royal commentator Charles Rae thinks it could be a way for the Sussexes to show they still have royal connections.
“The Netflix film crew will most certainly favourably capture Harry and Meghan,” Rae said (via Express). “It will look as if they are still members of the Royal family when they are private citizens. That will be the whole aim to show people they are still considered very important people.”
This was the first time Harry and Meghan traveled to the U.K. together since their move to California.
Critics have called for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to stop using their titles
Despite no longer being senior royals, Harry and Meghan still do work under their titles. For example, the couple often refers to themselves as the “Duke and Duchess of Sussex” when releasing official statements. When Meghan released her children’s book, The Bench, she was credited as “Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.”
Working royals are typically not allowed to use their titles for monetary gains, so critics have called for Harry and Meghan to stop using their titles in non-royal work.
“If you look at other members of the family or peers or heir to peerages; Beatrice and Eugenie do not use their titles in their jobs – on their work websites it’s Beatrice York, Eugenie York,” historian and royal expert Marlene Koenig said (via Express). “Uncle Charles, Earl Spencer, he’s written several books, but doesn’t use his title on his books: he uses Charles Spencer. The Earl of Harewood, whose father was the Queen’s first cousin, was a producer, he used Lascelles, the family name, as his title.”
Koenig added, “So, I think they should step away from using their titles, they should just use Meghan Sussex, Harry Sussex; there is so much precedent for that, especially in the US.”
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