By Molly Claire Goddard
4:04pm PST, Nov 13, 2025
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Prince Harry and
Meghan Markle's public statement about
Queen Elizabeth II's decision to ban them from using the word "royal" to describe themselves after they left The Firm was disrespectful, an expert claims.
Keep reading to find out why…MORE:
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According to royal author
Tom Bower,
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were out of line when they released a statement speaking out against Queen Elizabeth II. "It was rude to the queen," he
told DailyMail.com, describing the statement as filled with "spiteful fury" and "simmering resentment."
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In a statement shared on their website in February 2020,
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said they wouldn't use their ties to The Firm to earn money. "While there is not any jurisdiction by the monarchy or cabinet office over the use of the word 'royal' overseas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use 'Sussex Royal' or any iteration of the word 'royal' in any territory [either within the U.K. or otherwise] when the transition occurs spring 2020," the message read. "While there is precedent for other titled members of the royal family to seek employment outside of the institution, for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex a 12-month review period has been put in place."
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Meghan Markle and
Prince Harry reportedly asked Queen Elizabeth II for personalized roles within The Firm. However, Her Majesty wouldn't sign off on the idea. "The Sussexes' original plan of being half-in, half-out working royals was never going to work. Obviously, as the queen has made clear, they are still much-loved members of her family. But if they aren't carrying out official duties and are now seeking other commercial opportunities, they simply cannot be allowed to market themselves as royals," a source told
DailyMail.com at the time.
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In the years since they retired from their roles as senior working royals,
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have received backlash for exploiting their royal ties to make money. "Having slammed the royal family for years now, she really wants to use the title Sussex and she wants to use Sussex royal as her branding, which she was told she wasn't allowed to, but it feels a little bit hypocritical to rely on that royal fame to sell products and maintain notoriety," royal reporter Charlotte Griffiths said of Meghan.
