Prince Harry's 'His Royal Highness' title removed from royal family's website
Prince Harry's "His Royal Highness" title was removed from his profile page on the royal family's website, more than three years after he and his wife Meghan Markle stepped down from their roles as working royals.
As part of the agreement made between the couple and the royal family in January 2020, Harry, 38, and Markle, 41, would no longer use their "HRH" titles after stepping back from their official positions. HRH titles, which refers to "his/her royal highness," are spoken and written in front of the names of princes and princesses, as well as their spouses.
Two references to Harry were changed from "HRH" to his title of "the Duke of Sussex" or "the Duke" Tuesday following a report on the oversight that was published by the British outlet Express last Friday.
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Prince Harry's "His Royal Highness" title was removed from the royal family's website three years after he and Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals. ( Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
The outlet reported that the royal family's website had not been updated completely following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September and the coronation of King Charles III in May.
According to the outlet, Charles and his wife Queen Camilla were referred to by their former titles of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall while Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton were designated the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
William and Kate still retain those titles, which were given to them by Queen Elizabeth on their wedding day in 2011, but they were also named the Prince and Princess of Wales by Charles following his ascension to the throne.
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The outlet also noted instances in which Elizabeth was still referred to as the reigning monarch instead of Charles as well as other errors. As of Tuesday, all the outdated references on the website that were pointed out by the outlet had been corrected.
"The Royal Family website contains over five thousand pages of information about the life and work of the Royal Family. Following the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, content has been revisited and updated periodically. Some content may be out of date until this process is complete," Buckingham Palace said in a statement to the outlet.
The website had not been updated completely since the death of Queen Elizabeth II and ascension of King Charles III. (Getty Images)
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
According to the publication, Harry's profile had also been moved lower on the website's landing page. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex' profiles can now be found beneath those of the working royal family members.
The profile page for Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is listed last on the landing page. Andrew lost the use of his "HRH" title, his military roles and his royal patronages in January 2022 following allegations of sexual abuse, which he strongly denied.
In February 2022, Andrew settled a lawsuit with his accuser Virginia Giuffre, an American woman who alleged that the royal raped her when she was a teenager at the home of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince William and Kate Middleton were given the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales by Charles after he ascended to the throne. (HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
Both instances in which "His Royal Highness" was used to refer to Harry on his profile page concerned his work to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and end the stigma around the disease.
In January 2020, following the couple’s announcement that they were stepping back as senior members of the British royal family, Buckingham Palace announced in a statement they would no longer use the "HRH" title.
Harry remains fifth in line to the throne behind William and his children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
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The royal family's website was updated in March to reflect changes to the titles of Harry and Markle's children.
The couple's son Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2, were named the Prince and Princess of Sussex on the website's line of succession page after they were previously designated "Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor" and "Miss Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor." The two are sixth and seventh in line to the throne behind their father.
After stepping down as working royals in 2020, Harry and Meghan Markle lost their HRH titles. (Chris Jackson)
The website was updated one day after Harry and Markle used the title of Princess for the first time when announcing Lilibet's christening.
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The changes were in keeping with a 1917 decree issued by King George V that the children and grandchildren of a reigning sovereign have the automatic right to the titles prince or princess and HRH (His/Her Royal Highness).
After Charles ascended to the throne in September, his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet became eligible to receive royal titles. As monarch, Charles could have revoked their titles but opted not to when Harry and Markle decided to use them.
"The children's titles have been a birthright since their grandfather became monarch," Harry and Markle's spokesperson told People magazine at the time. "This matter has been settled for some time in alignment with Buckingham Palace."
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