Meghan Markle concerned about “blurring the lines” between what is private and what is public regarding the use of her HRH title after the latest controversy.
The Duchess of Sussex triggered a backlash this week after her friend Jamie Kern Lima shared an image of a gift Meghan sent her a year ago, which was accompanied by a monogrammed card reading: “With Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex.”
Despite the Sussexes still maintaning their HRH titles after quitting the Royal Family in 2020, they have not applied them publicly since then, in what was an agreement with the royals following their bombshell exit. But now a constitutional expert has said she risks “blurring the lines” of what is considered private and what is considered public when it comes to using her HRH title.
“They still have their HRH titles, and the formulation was that they would not use this in an official capacity, so that commercial activities don’t have a royal seal of approval.
“In that sense, this was a personal message, and so she could, and I don’t think there is anything legally to prevent her from using this in a personal capacity. I think what is unusual about this is that it has come out in the open, and it’s that blurring of the personal and the private.”
He continued: “But this is a friend, with whom she is doing a public appearance with, so that’s really where the controversy lies. You would have thought that discretion being the best part of valour, you would not use it in a way that could easily become public.”
On Monday, the Duchess’s representative rejected that the couple their HRH titles them.
But a source for the couple said on Tuesday that the Sussexes did not apply HRH publicly but retained the style, and did not apply it for commercial purposes.
The source described the basket as a “personal gift,” saying: “While they do not publicly use ‘HRH,’ this was a personal gift, and their titles remain.”
Buckingham Palace announced: “The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the royal family.”
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer actively use their HRH titles as they will no longer be working members of the family as of Spring 2020.”
